Don't Tell Rihanna!

One of the many thoughtful Christmas gifts I received last month was this awesome Hello Kitty umbrella, from my friend Leah.  It fits nicely with my Hello Kitty toaster, waffle maker, water cooler, camera, clock, CD player, pencil box, gloves, Pez dispenser, well, you get the idea....

Here's the dirty little secret that only people who live in Seattle know: Nobody uses umbrellas here. I didn't own one before this gift and I don't think Donna has one either. In fact, I don't know a single person who uses an umbrella in Washington. Not one.

Oh, occasionally I will see one operating on the streets downtown but I figure those are just tourists. Or TV anchormen worried about their hair and makeup. Live in Seattle a while and you begin to barely notice if it's raining or not. In winter sometimes it rains so many days in a row that when it slows down to a drizzle, it feels like it is not even raining at all!

You quickly get over any concern about getting wet if you're outside.  It is not uncommon to see two people standing on the sidewalk chatting leisurely with one another while it pours.  And I imagine if you added up all the hours you could waste carrying, opening, closing, losing, buying and re-buying umbrellas over a few years it would not be an insignificant chunk of time.

Don't get me wrong, Leah. I am grateful for the gift. And since I'll never use it, it should last me forever.

Comments

[Emily Alexis]

This is so true. Moving from Southern California to the Seattle area, this drove me crazy. Especially when its raining and I'm running from my car to Target or something, and everyone else is just strolling along, and acting like you're the crazy one.

[Princess Leah]

Er, um, you're welcome?

I guess it was worth dragging it back from Tokyo, Japan to star in it's own brog, I mean blog.

[Tiffiny Whitney]

I think you and Emily are lying. There's no way people up there don't use umbrellas. It's constantly raining. Are you telling me people don't mind getting soaked by rain?

Tiffiny

[EditThis]

You're totally right and I've noticed it before. I grew up in Washington and never once owned my own umbrella. People in the Bad Place see me walk right out into the rain and they're like, "Are you crazy?!" It's JUST rain...

[whimsy]

A true Seattleite weighing in on The Great Umbrella Debate. Really, we don't use them. They have the nasty tendency to poke people's eyes out on the crowded downtown streets. There's also that old Liquid Sunshine chestnut, if you buy it.

Contrariwise, I **do** actually own and use an umbrella on the rare occasion when it's raining in sheets of water (which isn't that often), and then only when I'm walking from the bus to work. I'll use the umbrella contraption just so my hair won't totally frizz up and be unmanageable for the rest of the day. Bean, I think you can use your Hello Kitty umbrella just for this purpose: to keep your hair manageable on the truly torrential downpour days.

[K]

I'm totally baffled!! There are few things I hate more than water dripping on me, esp rain!! Yes, I live in So Cal where it doesn't rain often enough to become immune to rain, but still... how could someone concentrate on a conversation while getting wet?!

[Geo]

Forget the rain, umbrellas are used for keeping the sun off you. Don't you know anything!

[Trina]

I come from the Pacific Northwest where I also did not own an umbrella. After I moved to the bad place, for the longest time I refused to get an umbrella. I figured, if I didn't have on in Oregon, why should I have one here. I'm ashamed to say, I own one now, but in my defense I found it for free on the ground.

[Fred G.]

Bean,
Do you take other clothing measures? I live in LA and prefer to keep the umbrella packed away, going with a light hooded jacket and shorts if it's not too cold. Umbrellas = drippage, wind problems and eye pokage.

[LA]

I think I would love Seattle.

[stephanie]

i dont get umbrellas either. just put on a damn hat or get wet. who cares? you'll dry!

[Vic Rattler]

That sounds awesome, I love the rain. I never use and umberella, which makes me stick out in a SoCal world where rain is a newsworthy event.

[jake]

This is true, I only saw a few people with umbrellas, most people just pull their hoody over their head if its too much. I did not bring an umbrella but constantly had my hoody pulled over my head when im outside.

I was in Seattle this past Christmas break. I thought for the longest time that TV, movies, and people in general were exagerating about it raining all the time. I was wrong!

It rain so much while I was in seattle, I actually remember each time that it didnt rain.

Not only that it rain but it was always gloomly and dark. I actually took pictures when i saw the sun because I was suprise to see it. It was very depressing after a few days when all you've seen are dark gray clouds and rain.

The craziest thing I saw was that it was 35 degrees outside, with rain and people were jogging in shorts!!!

I live in So Cal, I realized that day that I was spoiled with all that Sun, and nice temperature.

[anthony]

wow, this is so balls, way balls

[Marci Bones]

Hail all things Hello Kitty.

Check out this guy http://www.kittyhell.com/

Woah.