On Rainy Days, Gentle Men and One Blue Scarf…

Long time no post! I have had a crazy schedule of late. I hope you all are well?

I do not like rainy days, not one bit. I don’t mind them if I am at home, in my bed with a yummy novel but when I am going out, I’d rather it remains bright and sunny.

Its been raining consistently for the past couple of days, and for some reason it has been drenching me, well its my fault really because I absolutely hate carrying umbrellas. So on yet another rainy morning just before I got off the bus, I overheard the ladies sitting in front of me discussing and wondering if there were any good men left in Nigeria. One of them said over and over again how men were clueless and couldn’t see a good woman like herself to love and to cherish. The other lady said she did not love her husband any longer and was just waiting for him to do something worth leaving him for. Between two of them they came up with the conclusion that there were no good men left in the world. I tried not to laugh at some of the things they were saying and focused my energy on hoping the rain would stop as we got closer to the bus stop.

Since I didn’t have my umbrella, I began to take measures to reduce the effect I knew the rain would have on me. I stuffed my phones into the side zipper of my handbag to keep them from getting wet, rolled up my perfectly ironed black trousers which the rain would end up ruining anyways, and draped my dependable blue wool scarf around my head and shoulders. At this point the rain had increased and I was prepared for the worst.

The bus stopped, I got down but the shelter at the bus stop was filled with people like myself who found themselves without an umbrella, so despite all my precautionary measures, I found myself standing in the rain and rapidly getting drenched, again! While the rain was busy dealing with me, the women who were discussing earlier in the bus suddenly flanked me and poked their head into my already dripping blue scarf! I was too stunned to even complain and I just let them be.

It kept pouring and by this time the scarf had become quite useless but we held on it. People drove by speedily not minding the water they were splashing on us. A bolt of thunder, a flash of lighting and the rain kept pouring. Miraculously,a jeep that had been driving slower than the others, came to a halt and asked us where we were headed. Luckily for me and my two new friends, he was going our way and we got into the car, wet clothes, shoes and all. 

Soon, we got to our destination and again the ladies and I were headed the same way. We chorused our “thank you sir” and the other lady blurted out: Hmmmmm, so there are still good men in this world? The man heard it, smiled and drove off.
Happy to be rid of the two women, I walked away, wondering how I was going to get through the day with my wet clothes.

I am a firm believer that there are good men left in the world, I know only a handful though and I am grateful for them.

“I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way (s)he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.”- Maya Angelou

What does my rainy day experience say about me?