Today is a rainy day. A nasty, should-be-snowing-it’s-so-cold, blowing awful rainy day. One phenomenon I have noticed that with unfortunate weather comes umbrella stands outside each subway station. I do not know where they magically appear from.
Sometimes bad weather is clearly in the forecast, giving these mystery peddlers ample time to prepare. But even sudden rainstorms bring out the umbrellas in full force. Do the sellers wait in the nooks and crannies of the city for the first drop of rain? Do these umbrella genies sell other things when it is not raining? What could they possibly be doing that they are able to drop whatever to provide you with rain protection at a cloud’s notice?
Another thing to analyze- how much money can actually be made by selling umbrellas? I am sure if one is lucky/aggressive enough to get a primo tourist spot in Times Square they can make a chunk but what about the ones outside the 69th and Lex station that I emerge from this evening? It is all neighborhood people and chances are they already have an umbrella. Can the occasional absent minder that didn’t look out the window at the weather and left their gear at home really sustain a whole stand?
This is the $3.00 question.
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2 comments:
I'm thinking that the umbrella stands themselves cause the rain, like some sort of bizarre Native American rain dance come to life. :-) Those are some great questions, though.
This is an interesting theory... you may be onto something GP...
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