Sometimes a bright notion
Much of the light saved during the switch to daylight time is lost if one works in a basement nine to fi ve. And while minute for minute we subterranean workers collect as many rays as our above-grade compatriots after we leave the office confines, our light rations are smaller once the work clock has started. During those meagre winter days one cannot tell from the windowless burrow whether it is worth the effort to venture outside to collect a few grams of vitamin D on our coffee breaks or at lunch. You might think that would trouble us a reat deal -- but you would be wrong.
We don't really think about what we're missing. Rather, working in a basement provides a cozy hibernation-like feel -- especially in winter. As the world above buzzes and fusses over curtain fi ttings, screen adjustments and sneaking the window open just enough to let some air in without tipping off the heating or airconditioning monitors, we sit comfortably in our evenly lit enclosure listening to the gentle noises emanating from the mechanical room as transformers and electrical panels hum like slumbering bears.
When concerned administrators enthusiastically fitted our area with a quantity of overhead fluorescent tubes we said, It's not a dollar store. Now we are mellowing under the glow of but a few daylight spectrum bulbs and the delightful ambient glow that beams from a "moose-theme" floor lamp.
Certainly, without a direct window view onto the day, on occasion we become disoriented. A trip outside has been known to send us running back to the lair for raincoats. These moments are fewer now that we have access to a variety of weather websites, although judging by the accuracy of such reports I have come to believe that the people who input this information also work in a basement.
Then, it struck me -- a possible solution to this small seasonal-awareness-deprivation. Why should we miss but one glimmer?
In summertime the university shortens our work day so we may leave early and enjoy the lengthier days. I propose that those of us who miss out on the doses of sunshine or general weather watching -- notably workers in basements, windowless pods, and labs -- should have the option of leaving work early in winter as opposed to summer in order to take advantage of the few meagre rays of light.
Understandably such a solution would be extraordinarily complex to implement -- perhaps almost as confounding as changing from daylight time itself. Possibly shortened hours in winter wouldn't fi t well with the rhythm of the university's work schedule. And then there would be the logistical nightmare of negotiating such a radical notion into contracts.
Ah well, let us turn the clock back then and continue, as we do, drawing any extra light exposure we need by visiting colleagues in their windowed offices -- pretending to make social chit chat but all the time keeping a covetous eye on the daylight -- bright or diffused.
Provided by University of Toronto
