Rain is wet. And sometimes it rains very hard in Shizuoka, and for a long time.
An image of London, my hometown, is the businessman in his grey suit, walking quickly along the street with his umbrella. So everyone in London has an umbrella. Wrong. When I was last in London, in March, there were a lot of rainy days, but no-one had an umbrella, including me.
In London the rain is often light, mostly short showers, so most people just don’t care. If the rain becomes heavy then people go into a shop or a pub for a few minutes until the rain is lighter.
However in Shizuoka I often need an umbrella. Sometimes it rains for days! I counted my umbrellas, and I have 5. But I’ve never bought one! So where are they from? I think I got one from someone who didn’t need it, and another from the lost umbrellas in a bar. As for the others I really don’t know. Anyway I don’t need 5 umbrellas so what should I do?
Do you know about Murphy’s Law? It’s not a real law, more like a joke. For example if you leave home without an umbrella it is sure to rain, but if you take an umbrella it won’t. I call this Murphy’s Law No.1.
So, guided by Murphy’s Law No.1, I decided to put some of my umbrellas in different places. I put one at university, and another at my local station. It was hard to find a hiding place in the station, but I found somewhere high to hide it. Nobody ever looks up, do they? And most people won’t be able to reach so high, so I think it is a good place. And if it is raining and someone else takes it, then I can be happy that my umbrella kept someone dry.