Strangers and Umbrellas on a Rainy Evening

I have a love hate relationship with the rainy weather.

I hate the muddy streets, that damp icky feeling when your clothes get soaked and cling to your skin and I hate how everything suddenly seems to slow down when all you really want to do is rush to get home.

I got caught in the rain tonight, and it was bad timing too because I lost both my umbrellas (one at my house  probably hiding in a place where all lost objects go, the other at the office lost in a sea of dreary sullen colored umbrellas). Did I mention my officemate offered to lend me her umbrella but I stubbornly refused thinking she might need it.

photo from pinterest

So there I was, standing in the rain in a sour mood waiting for a ride home. My hair was dripping wet and clung awkwardly to the side of my face, I felt like young Cosette in that Les Mis book cover (yes, I am being overly dramatic because what good is the rain if you can't have a little drama). The rain fell harder yet I noticed I was no longer getting drenched in it. As it turns out, while I was so absorbed with all the thoughts running inside my head, the lady standing next to me had her umbrella over my head. I smiled and thanked her and she smiled back. When her ride came, she ran off without a warning but another lady had already offered to share her umbrella with me. And when this lady left, another one offered to keep me dry.

And just like that, my mood was lifted by the generosity of these strangers. The rain isn't as dreary as I felt it was because the world is still filled with tiny random acts of kindness.