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US 160 separates the Hopi Reservation from the Navajo Reservation and thus also two time zones
Photo: Matt York / AP
In Europe it still takes three weeks until the clocks are set to daylight saving time, in the USA it has already happened.
And that is causing confusion in some places in the state of Arizona.
Arizona and Hawaii are the only states that don't change their clocks, although mainland Arizona's time zones are even more complicated.
Arizona passed a law establishing standard time in 1968 after the federal government attempted to make daylight saving time the norm nationwide.
The desert state had tried out daylight saving time the year before.
But residents living in the sweltering summer heat complained about having to endure an extra hour in the sun.
But there are also reservations of the indigenous Navajo and Hopi in Arizona.
The Navajo Tribal Council – now the Navajo Nation Council – decided at the time that the reservation would follow the lead of the U.S. government.
To avoid confusion: The reservation area also extends into the states of Utah and New Mexico, which have adopted daylight saving time.
An additional hour of daylight in the summer would “greatly benefit the Navajo people,” it also said.
The Hopi Reservation, on the other hand, which is completely enclosed by the Navajo Reservation, keeps it like Arizona and does not change the clocks - which makes the time zone chaos perfect.
Confused hotel guests, tired school children
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Melissa Blackhair is dreading the coming months
Photo: Matt York / AP
Melissa Blackhair, who lives in Tuba City, Navajo, told The Associated Press that she was dreading the coming months.
Her husband works in Phoenix, so their clocks run differently.
»Everything in our house is set to summer time.
It's a bit annoying because I have to remember which car is on daylight saving time and which is on winter time," she said.
"My husband won't change the time in our apartment (in Phoenix)." From March to November we now have to calculate what time it is where.
Things are also complicated for Kimberly Humetewa.
She lives with her family on the Hopi side in Moenkopi, but her children attend school and other events on the Navajo side.
The time change is hard for her.
You have to get up earlier and do time conversions for almost everything.
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Kimberly Humetewa and her daughter shopping.
The supermarket is just across the street, but in a different time zone
Photo: Matt York / AP
Supermarkets and hotels were also preparing.
Reminders have been hung in the employees' locker rooms, but bosses still expect that many employees will be late.
The situation on US 160 is extreme. One side of the road is in the Navajo area, the other in the Hopi area.
At the hotel on the Hopi side, guests are advised that the supermarket opposite is an hour ahead.
»In reality, it would probably be a lot easier for everyone if we all stuck to the same time.
But I see it as something unique,” says the manager of the supermarket in question.
»Where else can you say that?
Oh, they have a different time across the street.”
czl/AP