DateTime objects are a staple in almost every codebase, but they often come with hidden complexities that lead to frustrating bugs and confusing decisions. In this talk, I’ll take you through the journey of working on an Apache Pinot PR, where DateTime handling was one of the key challenges. What started as an attempt to build a robust, feature-rich solution quickly turned into a lesson in the power of simplicity. I'll share how we simplified the approach to DateTime handling, why that decision was critical, and what it taught me about the importance of simplicity in software development.