Big Brella

NYC is a great place to notice trends. Something I've observed this rainy week is that people are wholeheartedly moving to huge umbrellas. People are wielding SUV-equivalent umbrellas, from golf-size to patio-size, and generally the old resentment against these gargantuan shields has faded, because 1) everyone has them now, so you can't spend every moment on the sidewalk getting pissed at people (or you could but it would be quite an energy drain and 2) it appears that New Yorkers have gotten much better about handling their large umbrellas.

Every rainy season a particular type of umbrella will also predominate, primarily because it's what the street vendors are selling. A few years ago it was the black umbrella with the strange white coke bottle-looking thing on top, and more recently there is the black umbrella in the staggered, tiered translucent casing. You still see these around, but most of them break by the end of the year.

So this week I've spotted one particular umbrella that people are using, it's a simple stick umbrella that is quite large, with more ribs than usual, and in general a more circular, spherical appearance than your typical umbrella. It's appealingly giant but also kind of unassuming, and I've seen it enough that I knew it was available somewhere. And wouldn't you know it, today on my lunch break I passed by a street vendor with a sign that said "Large - $10" and I knew I had the prize.

This new umbrella is lovely. The handling takes a bit of getting used to --- it drives like a Chevy Suburban --- but the rain doesn't get anywhere near you. It's like carrying a studio apartment with you on the sidewalk.

Posted by chris at October 14, 2005 04:28 PM