Umbrella Etiquette: The Tilt
April 11, 2009
It’s raining. An aggressive pedestrian approaches you head-on. Her/his height is within two inches of your own. A collision is inevitable.
Tilt. 30 Degrees. No more, No less. If the dance motion is reciprocated on both ends, beauty will follow. It’s magic in umbrellic form.
If it isn’t reciprocated, you still may avoid danger. And you may also feel like an idiot.
Tilt is the word.
Spread it to friends and foes.
What are your rules of Umbrella Etiquette?
April 19, 2009 at 3:56 pm
My process is a bit more confusing, and often results in the tilt… Upon making eye contact with an oncoming passerby, one of us must make the decision to lift our umbrella up higher than the others, so that we can pass in peace. This move resembles a city tour guide with the big red umbrella, leading her followers. Or maybe Mary Poppins.. Im usually the lifter; but if no one lifts, it results in a messy tilt and umbrellas hitting.
April 19, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Rachel, I’m always the lifter. It gets old.
I never make eye contact, but maybe I should consider it. Next rainy day, which should be tomorrow and the day after and the day after … , I will dive into the full-blown eye contact. Maybe I’ll get a date out of it too??? Crazy things happen during those city thunderstorms.
August 31, 2010 at 10:28 pm
Kira,
This reminds me of times in New York when I often ran into fellow umbrella users. However, as someone who is shorter than most, the tilt method doesn’t really work for me. I’ve found that I actually have to stick my arm all the way up to get my umbrella to go OVER the top of their’s. Why is it that the shortest on the street is lifting HER umbrella?