People From Around Here Don't Like Getting Wet!

For the record, generally speaking, I don’t mind getting wet. I take daily showers. I don’t bother with an umbrella if it is drizzling. That said, I am positive that people from around here just don’t like getting wet. And I am not talking about Beijing people. I am talking about all residents in Beijing. Foreigners, too. Allow me to explain. Case 1 We had a company outing scheduled this past weekend. We were going to go hiking, camping, etc. On Thursday, we had a company-wide meeting to discuss the weather situation. Apparently, as of Thursday, Beijing had a 90% chance of rain for the weekend - all weekend. Yikes. Oh well, that will be an experience, I thought. My boss decided to put a grim spin on this news by telling the staff they will be uncomfortable, etc. if it rains. I am not sure why he said that, as he also said he wouldn’t mind going if it rained (his military background is speaking). Well, he held a vote. 3 people, including myself, wanted to go this weekend. The rest, and I mean EVERYONE, wanted to postpone. It didn’t rain this past weekend. Case 2 Beijing was supposed to be hit by a Typhoon. Yes. A Typhoon. That’s OK if you are still wondering what the hell I am talking about. But, that was what everyone was talking about yesterday. Everyone. People in my office. People in Melanie’s office. People in offices of my other friends. “You must get home before it hits!” I have heard people saying… “Shanghai is waiting in water!” someone else said. I went to [CNN’s Weather](http://www.cnn.com/weather/) website. Jee, nothing about a Typhoon warning. [Weather Underground](http://www.wunderground.com)? Same. Nada. So, the office cleared out a bit faster that usual after 6. I thought I’d better have my camera if it ends up going chaotic. So I decided to go home. I waited. Went to dinner, and waited. No rain. Waited more. No rain. Went to bed. Woke up, drizzle. Nice typhoon. – Maybe it is a much bigger issue than people not liking to get wet. Considering that traffic in Beijing goes to utter shit when it rains. (It’s bad during a nice sunny day, it is in-explainably much much worse when it rains!) Maybe water just causes everything to not function as it “should”. Maybe that’s why some people don’t shower on a daily basis? Could be.