Samoa’s recent decision to jump across the International Dateline reminds us that man, not nature, makes these rules about what day and time it is.

In an effort to do more business with Australia and New Zealand, Samoa decided that Friday was actually Saturday and that instead of being the last nation to see the sun go down every day it will from now on be the first nation to see the sun come up.

Previous to the change, New Zealand and Australian businesses were already closed for the weekend while Samoans were trying to finish their Fridays strong, and while Samoans were observing religious Sunday services, their neighbors were hard at work on Monday.

Somebody once said that nothing Congress could do would make the sun shine a minute longer, but what Samoa has done makes it clear that while we can’t change what is, we can always change what we call it.