Walking home on what seems to have been the 50th rainy day of the year in NYC, I was reminded of my detest of umbrellas. I owned one once in California, but found it of little use since it was always cumbersome entering in and out of car doors in the once-yearly rainstorm.

My new home has "summer rain" (I thought I was in a Twilight Zone episode when, not long after moving, I was caught in torrential rain in the middle of July. My paradigm dictates dry heat upwards of 105 in summer months). I bought an umbrella soon after. It was okay until I walked down a busy sidewalk with it and pandemonium hit... similar to today's experience.

Most people use umbrellas even if its just cloudy & misty and insist on opening them the second they enter the subway stairwell. All this does is create the kind of congestion that makes you suddenly claustrophobic. The same people crowd the street taking up large expanses of space with their extra-large umbrellas (made for families it seems, but favored by small girls in high-heels that walk imposibly slow & hold it a height that guarantees impalement if you try to pass). In fact, everyone walks so slow because they can't really see where they're going with black, opaque domes held over their heads.

I gave up. I don't want to be one of the aimless sidewalk umbrella holders who shuffle slowly in front of a trail of pissed, soaked souls. For along time, I haven't carried an umbrella--unless it seems God is trying to flood the world again or at least the island of Manhattan (oh the debauchery) .

I think I found the answer to my dilemma with the Bubble Umbrella from Urban Outfitters. Its see-through oval shape allows easy weaving in-and-out of the sea of these inconsiderate sidewalk-hogging impalers of NYC: the Umbrellables.

Labels: accessories, pet peeves