Sometimes when you live abroad the things that drive you crazy are surprisingly trivial: Today it is raining in Sicily for the first time since Christmas and, here in the country of Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Enzo Ferrari and Gucci, I cannot find a sensibly designed umbrella! [My Britannic brollies have long since been blown inside out and given up the ghost, been otherwise damaged or lost.] The trouble is that the spokes won't fit nicely underneath the handles, which means that you can damage your clothes carrying the things and they make holes if you put them in a shopping bag.... A shopping bag! There's another item I can't find! I suppose it's because most people have cars and find plastic carrier bags strong enough to transport their purchases the short distance from shop to vehicle. You can find designer bags, school bags, flight bags, children's bags and men's handbags but I've yet to see a simple shopping bag for sale!
12 comments:
That is an issue here, since it rains so infrequently. I hardly ever use them, but my wife and kids like to have an umbrella when it does rain. Why are they never around when you need them and why do they fall apart so easily. In Singapore, everyone had multiple umbrellas of all shapes and sizes, to cope with the regular and often heavy rain. The large supermarket near where I lived had a very large umbrella department.
Most supermarkets here now sell 'green' bags...environmentally-friendly in the hope people will switch over to them from the plastic bags. I still use the supermarket plastic bags as they then double as garbage bags...so I'm recycling!
I don't own an umbrella any more. I've haven't used one in ages. If it rains, I just walk a bit faster!r
Hi, Colin. Yes, you could pick up an umbrella - and a shopping bag! -in virtually any UK supermarket. I can't manage a brolly and the lead when I'm out with my dog, so use a hooded mac, but if I've just had my hair done I like to have an umbrella. Oh, and you can bet it will rain, even here, when I have!
Lee, a lot of UK supermarkets do something like that. I do as you do - it's my own bit of recycling!
I have three telescopic umbrellas I no longer use WL. Can't walk and can't hold brolley in either wheelchair (think about Pete's eyes) or while 'driving' my scooter. Wonder how much it would cost to post one to you?
Hi, Shirl. Thank you - that is a really kind thought and I appreciate it. But I think the cost of sending one would be prohibitive. Sending letters and cards is cheap and fast but sending anything more is costly. So I have a "no present" pact with most of my friends abroad; it is just not worth paying more for the post than the object! Yes, I can see how difficult it would be for you to use a brolly in the circumstances. Hope you get around fast on that scooter when it rains! How's the snow where you are, now? Once again, thanks for the thought.
Snow's been and went - rain's on and off - we couldn't decide whether to weather the weather and go out - so we stayed in. Out tomorrow, maybe!
But what are your requirements for a shopping bag? Is it canvas?
...Sometimes when you live abroad the things that drive you crazy are surprisingly trivial...
Don't think you need to necessarily live abroad, Welshcakes, for that to happen. Having said that, it must have been intensely annoying.
Good to know the snow's cleared, Shirl. Hope it's not too cold now! We have got our sunny skies back today and a bit of Scirocco, so all my washing is on the balcony line.
Hi, Bonnie. Well, my shopping bag in winter has to be black, as that's the colour my accessories usually are and in winter it has to be blue,white or gold. It has to have straps long enough to go over my shoulder, be quite deep, be the type of bag you can fold into nothing and other than that, I'm not fussy!
On the last one, I meant "In SUMMER it has to be blue, white or gold"!
Hi, James. No, you don't have to live abroad to get annoyed by trivial problems in this life!
I hate umbrellas. I prefer the drowned rat look. (Well, not really but I can't be bothered with them.)
I do the plastic bag recycling too, partly as pooh bags, partly as rubbish collectors. What about ebay for a shopping bag?
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