Rainy Day Cliche

It's raining out. Harder than usual, but not completely unbearable. This kind of weather is difficult to stomach when using an outdoor subway station as your primary mode of transportation. During my junior year of college I had a similar situation over at St. Paul Street, which was actually worse, because the full express trains would pass right by. Now that I'm further down the line I can at least hop on and pray for the train to go express.


While I was outside waiting this morning there were a handful of unhappy people cluttered under the tiny bus stop awning. The braver people were out in the open, leaving their umbrellas to protect them. I waited with the brave folks. After about five minutes, a truck came barrelling down the road a little too close to the stop. I wasn't worried about the truck hitting us, but rather the giant puddle that had accumulated along side the barrier wall. Sure enough, it hit, and my legs got a little wet. The guy that was two spaces down from me got the brunt of it, soaking his backpack and legs. After that moment, everyone took a big step away from the wall, on to the yellow safety line next to the tracks. We all held out our umbrellas facing the puddle, attempting to sheild ourselves from the onslaught. Another girl made her way to the station and decided to lean right against the wall, despite everyone else standing a good two feet away. All of the umbrella holders glanced down the road to see an oncoming school bus, sure to soak the poor girl. Fortunately, the bus got caught by a red light and the train arrived, saving her from a damp morning.


The Aquarium is located right along the water, in the central wharf. There is an alley between the main building and the IMAX which creates a great place for wind to come shooting through. Naturally, while walking up the main plaza today, the wind was hard to walk against. Out of nowhere, a huge gust turned my umbrella inside out. The only reason it didn't completely blow away was that I had the wristband wrapped around my hand. It was terribly cliche and took a little while for the umbrella to be coaxed back into its normal shape.

So, the car splashed me and my umbrella turned inside out. What else could happen? I am probably going to step in a puddle that turns out to be about a foot deeper than it looks. Wayne Knight could crash his jeep on to our front stoop, only to be blinded and eaten by dinosaurs. Maybe Spider-man will hang upside down off the balcony across the street and kiss someone. Then Tim Robbins is going to tunnel out of the basement of my building, only to raise his arms in the middle of the street, victorious.

Actually, that last one would be awesome.