Wednesday, February 7, 2007

I Want to Know - Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

I'm glad I decided to wear pants instead of shorts today.

When I left my room for class, it was a gray and cloudy day. Not unusual for Berkeley. The ground, though, was moist, something that hasn't happened in a while. I bent down and put my palm flat on the ground. In my best Native American shaman voice, I said to myself, "The rains, they have passed."

I need to work on my shaman skills.

Luckily, I was smart enough to bring my jacket with me. I wasn't expecting any rain, but I feared it would get a bit nippy. To be honest, the cool winds were relieving, as both my room and Wheeler Auditorium's lobby were hot, stuffy, and suffocating. With every student entering the building there came a burst which made me think, "Oh, that's what it's like to be able to breathe."

By the end of my Economics lecture, around 11am, there was an ever-so-light sprinkle, and yet still people held out their umbrellas. "Fools!" I said (to myself), "I am from Southern California, and yet even I do not need an umbrella. Hahahaha!"

As I got out of each class, I noticed that the rain was coming down harder and harder. By the time I was free of my IDS 110 lecture (5pm), it was a pretty healthy shower. Now what am I to do? Well, as it turns out, I was prepared. I am always prepared. You see, I have two umbrellas. One is a big, fancy one, which I bring when I know that a downpour is imminent. The second is a small one that I keep in my backpack for a surprise meteorological attack. And this was definitely a surprise.

And yet, I didn't use my umbrella. Why not? Well, sometimes I simply enjoy getting soaked. As corny as it sounds, it's a liberating experience. I mean, once you're soaked, what more can happen to you? You're no longer bound to the umbrella like all those dry fools. Second, I was lazy and didn't want to hold the thing. Unlike my big, fancy umbrella, the little sucker is uncomfortable to hold.

Plus, I heard chicks dig guys soaked by the rain.

In any event, on my way back to CKC, I stopped by Ramona's to pick up a delicious panini and a bag of Kettle Chips. I put the two in a paper bag and continued on my way. Along the way, I became a walking sponge. Fortunately, my homely yet useful jacket was fairly waterproof. Unfortunately, I didn't button it up, so my soft underbelly was not spared the water's wrath. But it wasn't my body that I was worried about. It was my sandwich. All it had was a brown paper bag and a layer of waxed paper protecting it, and the bag was starting to rip.

Well, I made it to CKC well enough, and I was about 150 feet away from my building, when the following words came out of my mouth: "Boy, I hope this sandwich doesn't get wet...whoops!"

At that moment, the paper bag completely split, dropping the sandwich into the only puddle I could see around me. It was submerged for the brief second before I scooped it back up. The waxed paper wrap was covered in dirt and questionable water (the puddle was right by a parking area). I was...vexed.

Personally, I found it very suspicious that I could only find one small puddle in the vicinity, and it just so happened to be exactly where my sandwich fell into. I'm not without my postulations. My best working theory is that the ground directly beneath the puddle was much, much denser than the surrounding areas. This would create a stronger gravitational field, attracting other objects (such as my sandwich) to the puddle. To help illustrate this idea, I've included the following diagram:



As it turns out, waxed paper is not perfectly waterproof protection for sandwiches, but it's not half-bad, either. The bread of my sandwich wasn't even soggy, just a bit cold and floppy. Still a damn good sandwich. I ate it happily enough and went on with my day.

Y'know, I wonder if a Native American shaman could make a good, waterproof panini...

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