bumbershoot

an umbrella is an interesting thing. i have worked in the cbd for... (counts on fingers)... just under 8 months. today it is raining. it's probably the 4th day that i recall it raining... the only day - that someone hasn't taken my big umbrella (permanently "borrowed" from my 3rd employer)... or i haven't been stranded at a station - prior to a lesbian wedding - without one...

i had to go down to the bank. i took the umbrella. i noticed its awkwardness. the oddly shaped handle. the wood that is too smooth to grip properly - burberry etched into it. i noticed other people and their umbrella's. plain black or flat colour. the "impressionist" umbrella. the old umbrella's - faded or bought in a rush. one lady - her umbrella broken and upward pointing in the wind.

i noticed how people smile at one another (on approach) if their umbrella's are at the same height. a contact that would not occur if it weren't raining. the way some people don't acknowledge that same thing. just walk through, smashing, catching, ignoring. i wonder how much your umbrella says about you and whether or not ettiquette guides should be sold with each one.