Sometimes, not having an umbrella has its benefits...

I hate it when it rains. Which is too bad for me because I live in a tropical country where it practically rains about half of the year and sometimes even during the dry season. I know a lot of people who don't mind the precipitation because it gets quite cold in an otherwise humid city and I must say that I see what they mean but this doesn't change the way I feel about rain. Here are some reasons why I loathe the rainy season:

1. I don't like it when my feet get wet in flood water.

2. I'm very paranoid about Leptospirosis.

3. I don't like bringing an umbrella.

4. You wouldn't think that Manila traffic could get any worse but during heavy rainfall, that's exactly what happens.

5. I don't like the general gloominess of the atmosphere when it rains, it's very conducive for depression.

But something happened last night that made me like rain a lot more than I usually do. I attended a friend's birthday party in Bulacan and when it was time to go home, it was raining cats and dogs. My friend, the birthday celebrant, had an umbrella but it wasn't big enough to cover both of us so we ended up getting soaked anyway. It was a pretty long walk from his house to the tricycle stop. I was grumbling the whole time because I was ankle deep in floodwater and my shirt was wet and I was getting cold because it was really windy, too. At the same time, I was really worried about him because I didn't want him to get sick or anything like that. The rain was turning torrential and no tricycle was in sight. Suffice it to say that I was in a sour mood. But one little moment made me feel better about the whole situation While we were waiting for a tricycle, he put his arm around me so that we could kip under the little umbrella. So there we were, in the middle of an empty street, huddled under a small umbrella while water poured as if from a waterfall all around us. Right then and there, my bad mood went away. I wished it would take hours for the tricycle to get there so we could stay like that for a long time. It was such a sweet gesture that I was taken off guard. My friend, who was usually brusque when it comes to me, was being really nice to me. Don't get me wrong, he's a good guy but things like that weren't something that happened often so I think that memory will be lodged in my head for a while. It's not somehing that I'm likely to forget because of the rush of feelings that I experienced at that time. Just when I felt like I was about to give up on him, he goes and does something like that. It gave me hope. The rain turned out to be a blessing after all.

And that is why sometimes, not having a umbrella has its benefits.

photo from: http://Peach-melba.deviantart.com/art/Umbrella-20280249