Friday, September 11, 2015

Buying an Umbrella Can Be Hazardous

     We threw the old umbrella in the garbage can yesterday. The last time we used it we got just as wet as if we hadn't used it. By the time I got it closed and in the car I was wet. It just wouldn't close anymore at least if you're out in the rain and in a hurry..

     We get an average of  12 in (31 cm) of precipitation a year. We rarely have to use an umbrella. On the farm we didn't have an umbrella and I don't remember a raincoat. If it was heavy rain we stayed in. If it was light rain we stayed out and continued working.

    But we decided we had better buy a new umbrella sooner than later so off we went yesterday afternoon.

    We wanted something of quality. Our goal was to find a good reliable umbrella.

    Okay first we found the flimsy umbrellas. We tried them and they were exactly the same as the one we threw in the garbage can. We moved on and found something promising. There was a button on the handle so the Micro manager tried it and to her complete surprise the umbrella popped out causing a  customer beside her to duck very quickly. It was a little embarrassing. So stroke that one off. 

     We did find something that was better than the others and discretely put it on  the back of the rack while we looked at others in another store.

    We came back to get the one we thought was best. the Micro Manager wanted one more look at both of them when they were open. She opened the second choice and somehow her finger got pinched and in trying to escape the pinch she tore a good piece of skin off her finger. She was more that a little upset. 

    So with oohs and aahs, band aids from the staff and the manager the mess was sorted out. The store boxed up all the offending umbrellas and took them off their shelves.

    See , it's not just the pointy end of the umbrella that's dangerous.