Bring your Ponchos

Ok, let me start with where this story starts, and also where it ends.
Start: I walked out of the Gates building to a rather dark sky, and some strong wind in my face.
End: I stepped on to the bus with 90% of my clothing dripping wet.

Let's go back.  I walked out of the Gates building to a rather dark sky, and some strong wind in my face. As I approached the bus stop I was surprised that there were not more people waiting for the next bus. It was 4:00 ish on a Friday. My observation has been that the buses after 3:00PM are just completely packed. I think this has to do with Pitt and Downtown Pittsburgh being 'down stream' of CMU, so the buses are already full by the time they get there. So a few minutes after I arrive it starts to simply sprinkle, really like heavy misting, nothing I can't handle. Now this stop we are at has a covering, seeing as it is not really raining, I am still standing outside of its protective umbrella. A bus comes and takes everyone but 2 girls. So here we are the three of us, and then it starts to pick up, so I move to the underside of the covering. And then it starts to rain. And then it starts to pour. And then the heavens were opened and there was a water fall over all of Pittsburgh. It was some of the heaviest rain that I have ever been in. Yes, Drew and Holly, it reminded me a lot of that one night in Rome. Because my mother taught me manners and that Chivalry is not dead, I am standing the closest to the harsh elements, with the two girls huddled in the corner. As the down pour continues some more people trickle in (haha, did you get my pun?).

I am watching a common trend as it becomes apparent to me that there are some major pools of water running the length of the road way. Mind you we are on a hill, it is not like we are that the bottom next to a pool a standing water, we are on an incline and a pool of water is flowing past us. I watch people dive in to the bushes on the opposing side of the street to avoid getting splashed from the cars driving past. There were a few close calls, as cars would throw up water on the the ground under our protective shelter; me new Keens were starting to feel fairly squishy as they were absorbing more and more water. At this point I am fairly dry, my right leg is getting fairly wet, however my clothes are dry. Then I look up. A bus is heading in our direction. It looks full. Like in most cities, when buses are full they just drive past the stops until they have some room. This bus was not stopping. This bus was going to hit the pool of water that was building up in front of our little sanctuary.

It was like the splash zone at Sea World. There was no escaping the resulting tidal wave that assaulted the bus stop. The only people who were remotely dry were the two girls who had taken shelter behind me. It was not simply a splash. My glasses were no longer dry. My shirt was no longer dry. My shorts were no longer dry. My boxers were no longer dry. The ceiling of the bus shelter was no longer dry. That is right. For a brief moment it was 'raining' inside of the covering as the excess water that hit the roof dripped of. After laughing profusely with everyone there my bus was the next one. And I stepped on to the bus with 90% of my clothing dripping wet.

Seeing as I had no were to go it was fine, and that is was still fairly hot, it felt nice. Nothing in my bag got wet, no harm done. I made it home in time to see Agnes (the lady that lives across the street) doing some yard work, and we had a good chat. She thinks you are going to love it here mom!