The one drawback of having to ride a bike to work is that I’m at the mercy of the elements. If it’s blistering hot, I’m going to get really sweaty. If it’s raining, I’m going to get wet. I noticed last night while I was at work that it was raining. I wasn’t thrilled. But then I changed my mind-wouldn’t it be fun to ride my bike in the rain (maybe not safe-but fun)? I decided it would. Still, though, I couldn’t help staring out the windows and being torn. When I went outside to leave, the rain had stopped. I was simultaneously disappointed and happy.

But then…….when I got to Butts Road, it was raining! Not gently, either. So I got soaked on the way home and I couldn’t have been more ecstatic about it. Can you imagine what the people in their cars were thinking driving by some crazy girl on her bike in the rain mouthing the lyrics to the songs on her ipod? I can’t. When I got back to campus, I didn’t want to shower. I wanted to revel in my soaked state. There was, however, the threat of getting sick, so good sense won over and I took a hot shower.

But the incident kind of made me think that we’ve been socialized to dislike rain. I know when I was young I used to play in it all the time. But what does everyone do when it rains? They run for shelter. When you’re at school at recess and it rains, you have to go inside. Now, I understand that in the event of a thunderstorm it’s not safe, but rain itself isn’t harmful. I think over the years, it’s become sort of socially unacceptable to play in the rain. If you’re the only person not running to take cover under some building, people think you’re crazy. Even my friends sometimes think I’m crazy for wanting to play in it (though Aly did it with me once last year). For me, it’s kind of liberating playing in the rain. It brings back the inner child (even though, honestly, my inner child never grew up anyway). But I think people should play in the rain more often-give it a chance-because it’s more fun than trying to escape it.