Today the rain was coming hard again, so I agreed to take a cab with my coworker instead of cycling to school. It had been called for us already, so we were waiting by the door of our apartment building, eager to be neither wet nor late.
As soon as it pulled up, I pointed my umbrella out the door and pressed the button to unfurl it.
The head of my umbrella shot into the rain, unopened, and hit the ground outside. It had popped straight off of the umbrella shaft.
We weren't about to miss our taxi or be late for work, so I dashed into the rain and picked it up. I managed to open it and hold it like an upside-down flower over my head, but once inside the cab I had a revelation with some horror: normally to close my umbrella I'd just pull it down the shaft. But now...there was nothing but the flimsy flap.
Realizing I was letting rain into our taxi, and not immediately recognizing any better options, I yanked it in and crushed it with my arms.
Needless to say, the ride to work was interesting, and not entirely lacking in comic relief for our taxi driver.
When we arrived, I held my failing flower like a hat over my head again, but it was clearly useless. One of the desk teachers immediately cried out, “Teacher!” and a whole slew of other things (but in Korean) upon seeing me, apparently astounded by my hilarious predicament. Observing the futility of my attempts to beat my bad umbrella down, she took it from me and threw it on the floor, then began slamming her foot down on it until she had stomped it into submission.
Then, just as suddenly, she took both it and the shaft that I'd been holding and vanished into a back room with them.
I wasn't sure if they were coming back, and decided not to get as bent out of shape about it as my umbrella had just been.
Later, I found out from my coworker that she had caught a glimpse of it stuffed into a trash bag.
I didn't mourn for long. In fact, I bought a replacement for it tonight. We'll see how long the new one can survive...
As soon as it pulled up, I pointed my umbrella out the door and pressed the button to unfurl it.
The head of my umbrella shot into the rain, unopened, and hit the ground outside. It had popped straight off of the umbrella shaft.
We weren't about to miss our taxi or be late for work, so I dashed into the rain and picked it up. I managed to open it and hold it like an upside-down flower over my head, but once inside the cab I had a revelation with some horror: normally to close my umbrella I'd just pull it down the shaft. But now...there was nothing but the flimsy flap.
Realizing I was letting rain into our taxi, and not immediately recognizing any better options, I yanked it in and crushed it with my arms.
Needless to say, the ride to work was interesting, and not entirely lacking in comic relief for our taxi driver.
When we arrived, I held my failing flower like a hat over my head again, but it was clearly useless. One of the desk teachers immediately cried out, “Teacher!” and a whole slew of other things (but in Korean) upon seeing me, apparently astounded by my hilarious predicament. Observing the futility of my attempts to beat my bad umbrella down, she took it from me and threw it on the floor, then began slamming her foot down on it until she had stomped it into submission.
Then, just as suddenly, she took both it and the shaft that I'd been holding and vanished into a back room with them.
I wasn't sure if they were coming back, and decided not to get as bent out of shape about it as my umbrella had just been.
Later, I found out from my coworker that she had caught a glimpse of it stuffed into a trash bag.
I didn't mourn for long. In fact, I bought a replacement for it tonight. We'll see how long the new one can survive...
