Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Flood...

I awoke to the sound of thunder.

Early this morning, sheets of rain fell heavily from the sky. It was pitch-black outside, except for the periodic flashes of lightning. Water gushed forcefully from the gutter-pipes and washed down the streets in small rivers. Strong winds whipped around, making signs and trees sway.

I futilely rolled my pant-legs up, put on my sandals and got my umbrella (putting my socks and work shoes in my bag) and proceeded to make my way to open the store. I ran, splashing as I went with each foot-fall, to the subway station. The umbrella did little to prevent the rain from drenching me completely. During my rush to the station, I slipped several times, only just catching my precarious balance each time. At one point as I was crossing one of the streets, one of my sandals washed off my foot and was part way down the street with the quick current of the new street-river. I dashed after it on one foot, fearful of stepping on a used hypodermic needle in the gutter.

When I finally got on the train, I was dripping wet. The quick run through the rain made my chest heave up and down. My underwear was completely (and uncomfortably) soaked through. I had to fish out my cell phone from my pant pocket to make sure that it wouldn't get wet and water-damaged. The cold air of the train made me shiver.

This is how I started my day.

One would think that the day would be miserable, but it was actually quite fun. And after a quick squeezing of my under-garments and drying off with the paper towels in the bathroom at work, the day went by quickly and on a very humorous note. When asked how I was doing, I would solemnly say with an awkward twist of my mouth, "My underwear's still wet." Which always seemed to provoke a riot of thunderous laughter.

3 comments:

Tari of ClayButtons.com said...

OK, I am sitting here laughing too. The underwear comment had me rolling in the aisles. Have a wonderful, eventually dry, day!

Andrew Thornton said...

Ha ha ha, thanks Tari. The day turned out nicely. I eventually dried off. Have you ever noticed that say your umbrella dries out way before your shirt or underwear does? It never really made sense to me besides that it could be the fabrics and what not.

Tari of ClayButtons.com said...

My umbrella never seems to dry out!
We had some the drenching rain also, then it moved on to your part of the country!
Restrooms with a hand dryer in these situations are handy....done that before! The things you'll do to get out of the bathroom!