Umbrellas, Portici, and Rain

As you know my umbrella is currently riding the 58 bus around Torino. It has been raining the past few days so I purchased a new umbrella. Now I went into the store and saw these perfect little compact umbrella's. I thought great I can pack this into my purse it is so small. What I didn't realize was the physics of an umbrella which I am sure Mr. Novinski is not happy about.
I was walking to work today and I was thinking...wow my pants seem kind of wet. The back of my coat was also a bit wet. When I got to work my shoes were soaked and so were my pants from the bottom up to my knee and also the back of my thighs a little bit. I thought I must have been walking super fast to kick up that much water. Really the problem was that this new compact umbrella is awful. Sure it is small and I can fit it into my purse but the smaller the umbrella the smaller area above your head is being protected from the rain. This means that every time I take a step I would step out of the reach of my stupid small umbrella which is the reason for my soaking wet pants (which by the way made me damp and cold all day long). So I decided I was going to by a great big huge umbrella that would protect me no matter how large of steps I was taking! Although I have always hated those large umbrellas while walking down the streets in Chicago today I realized the practical application of them! I have never considered myself an umbrella snob but tonight I sure as heck was one! I didn't want a small compact one...no ma'am I wanted large. I was also thinking that I wanted to get a red one so my new umbrella didn't suffer the same fate as Massimo's and be mistaken as someone elses. The good thing is that, as you know, here in Torino there are many portici which are covered sidewalks so that made the shopping much dryer! I went to a couple stores in search of that perfect umbrella and could not find it so I opted for black. I saw an umbrella that was labeled "wind proof" and as I am my father's daughter got suckered into a gimmick. So to make a a long story...well a Tara story I am the proud owner of a brand new wind proof black umbrella! I can't wait for it to rain tomorrow so I can use it again! Oh I would take a picture of my new way cool umbrella but my mom always told me that it is bad luck to open an umbrella inside so I can't demonstrate the awesomeness of it!