A view from under the umbrella and a story:

Walking at the University of Minnesota is a daily endeavor, and while there, I got caught in foul weather while walking, but it was sporadic throughout my tenure at the U. During my last summer semester in school I had a class on the other side of the river at 8:00 in the morning everyday and there wasn't a bus that ran between my front door and the classroom building. Also, this particular summer it rained every morning. So I walked through the rain. I had a dinky umbrella and I was usually on the bridge when the thunder and lighting started, at which point, I ran. (The dinky umbrella never helped keep me dry). It wasn't until the 3rd or 4th time I got to class soaking wet that I decided that umbrella was no friend of mine and I left it in the corner for someone else to wrestle with in a storm on a bridge. After that, I went to the store and got the biggest, strongest, most expensive umbrella I could find and it was worth every penny. Six years later, I still have that umbrella, it still keeps me dry and it has never failed for another windy, rainy walk across a bridge.