Hi Mom,The way to get around New York in the rain is with a client umbrella. These differ from the three dollar sort or even the bought at the department store sort, because these are huge and made to cover important people. You'll be able to pick them out right away as you walk down the street, because they often have a fancy double lip to allow for runoff, appear to be able to shield an entire infield were they to huddle together, and are made of a material that unflinchingly stands up to wind and sheets of sideways rain.
When you walk down the street with, say, a three dollar umbrella, the kind you get from a vendor kind enough to appear just as you've resigned yourself to spending the whole day at work soaking wet because you were too lazy to bring your other three dollar umbrella, you have no chance on the sidewalk. It's like having a Festiva in a field of SUVs. The big umbrellas pick their turf first, the little ones duck under and weave around.
I was running late for a meeting today and left my trusty, twice-used-n0t-yet-broken three dollar umbrella upstairs at work. Someone was kindly enough to loan me a client umbrella (I promised not to break it and hoped for the best). I've never felt so noticed on the New York City streets in my life. Now if I can just get one with a blinker on it for when I'm turning...
Love,
Karen
That looks like the finest of umbrellas, Karen, and I hope it kept you very dry. The three dollar umbrellas are a NYC experience, and even though they don't last beyond one rain, the memory does.
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing.
Love,
Mom