Because I Didn't Learn My Lesson The First Time (Nor The Second)

When I volunteered at the daycare there was a day where we were supposed to go on a field trip to see How To Train Your Dragon. I wrote about this day a while back. In the end I walked 30 minutes through an incredible downpour only to be told the field trip was canceled. I sat indoors in the air conditioning, dripping wet for the next few hours. I had to distance myself from the kids because I didn't want any of them getting wet from leaning on me or anything.

Today the Philadelphia area awoke to a similar storm. I was considering, on my drive to the train station, to drive in. The walk through the train station parking lot takes a good 5-7 minutes. Then its another 10 or so from Suburban Station to the office. In this kind of rain, it only takes a minute to have you soaked through.

Ultimately, I stuck with my normal routine. The rain was coming down so hard while I was driving that visibility was almost 0. I was literally following brake lights to stay on the road. I realized that driving in those conditions was far too dangerous. It made more sense to take the train and brave the rain.

When I got to the station the rain slowed enough that I was barely wet from my walk. The same went for my walk from the train station to work. I was definitely wet, and wished I had an umbrella, but I had made it to work. Then, looking at the calendar, I realized that we had a birthday. I was told when I was hired that we celebrate birthdays by bringing in bagels to the nearest lab meeting. Two days ago one of the grad students had a birthday. I felt way too guilty about using the rain as my excuse for not getting them. I could have picked them up in Suburban. The fact was, I forgot to check.

I, with an RA, headed back out into the rain to get the bagels. As if the lesson from the field trip of "know when to call it quits" / "sometimes its not worth it" was not enough and the fact that I had gotten lucky that just as I got out of my car, and off the train, the rain slowed, I opened the doors and trudged out into the rain. Guess what - the skies opened up about a block away. I spent the rest of the day cold and wet. My jacket was still wet when I got home from work as were my shoes and socks. My shirt was soaked through despite having had a coat on.

I think that will be the last time I try fighting mother nature, especially for something that is probably not worth it. Either that or I should bring a change of clothes with me on bad weather days, just in case.