It is the last week of April (2008) and true to stereotype, the citizens of the greater Philadelphia area have been blessed with the proverbial “April Showers”. Let me side track for a moment: last month I started working in the actual city – that’s right readers, Joey is now a train taking member of the suburban commute club. I know, I know – who the hell cares… stay with me people…
Since my start in the city, mother nature has treated me pretty well. Sure, some days were cold, and there have been some minor drizzling, but for the most part, it was dry. Not this week. The wetness caused Philadelphia’s good working class people to break out their classic wet weather protection: The Umbrella.
Lets do some simple mental pictures: Take several thousand grumpy, tired, and wet commuters, place them in very confined (and now congested) city blocks (don’t forget to add construction and closed off sidewalks), and now give everyone a freaking umbrella… you know what you get? Umbrellas in the face, Run off on your shoes, and clearly not enough space to get around. 
I don’t know why I have never noticed this before, but I was ready to drop kick an old man yesterday when I was trying to get on the train. People are clueless about their surroundings without adding the extra circumference. I am not lying when I say I almost got popped in the eye 5 times yesterday. Get a clue people, buy a damn raincoat and make the streets of “Killadelphia” safe once again.
(Yes – the dude in the picture got that way being attacked by an umbrella)
