I bought the new mac and rain hat on Saturday, and yesterday afternoon (Monday) I had a job interview in Sheffield. Of course, for a job interview I togged myself up in my best clothes, soft maroon jacket, smart blouse, best skirt and so on, and as the final touch, as some fairly extreme weather was threatened, wore my new mac. Not that I expected to test it out much though, as I was driving into the town in my Fiat Seicento.
But that's where things started to go awry - as I drove into the outskirts of Sheffield at about half past one, the sky was beginning to look like a re-run of certain scenes in the movie 'Close Encounters', and it was obvious that something nasty was on the way in the way of rain. And that's when it happened. A red warning light came on the dashboard and the car began to produce copious quantities of steam from under the bonnet. I pulled up in a car park and had a quick check under the bonnet. The fan belt had well and truly snapped! Now there are some girls who can fix such things with no more aid than a pair of tights and nimble fingers, but I am not one of them.
I did a quick calculation and worked out that if I left straight away and walked, I could still make my interview at 2:45. And of course, on the upside, I had my new mac, never used. So I buttoned myself up and set off. I hadn't been walking for more than five minutes when the the heavens opened, the deluge became a storm, and then the storm became an absolute cloudburst! My lovely new mac, water cascading down it back and front, refused to give way as we battled through the semi darkness, lit by intermittent flashes of lightning and shaken by vibrating peals of thunder. But, sadly, it couldn't go on like that for long, and the proofing began to suffer from overload. Before long all resistance ceased, and first a cold dampness, and eventually trickles of water began to find their way inside. I wasn't helped either by the deep puddles forming on the road through which selfish car drivers continued to plough at high speed. While I was passing these 'ponds' no less than half a dozen drivers raced past and the effect on my already soaked mac was devastating.
I eventually reached the office where I was to be interviewed just a couple of minutes late. I'd been out in the storm for just over an hour and had been reduced to that state of saturation where it doesn't seem to matter any more, as you can't possibly get any wetter than you already are. I entered reception, and stood there, defiantly dripping all over the carpet. The secretary behind the desk tried not to laugh as she looked me over, and I suppose it did have it's funny side. My rain hat was so wet that it appeared to have collapsed against my hair, which no longer seemd to have any semblance of the style I'd had that morning. Although I didn't know it the the time, my maroon jacket, so thoroughly soaked that water could be wrung out out of it, had not proved colour fast and I had large purple stains on my formerly pristine white blouse."Go right in" said the receptionist. "Miss Brown is expecting you."
'Miss Brown' was small, well featured, and about my own age. She was also immaculately dressed. When I entered, still wearing my mac and rain lashed hat, she stood up to greet me. "My God" she said, "what have you been doing? Is that a Burberry? Let me have a look" I looked across the room and saw, hanging from a coat stand in the corner, an almost identical mac. I suddenly realised - Miss Brown was a fellow enthusiast! We talked macs and swapped storm stories for the next 20 minutes, and somehow we were on first name terms. Jane had been itching to get out in the rain, but work had prevented her. She was actually envious. Finally she offered me the job, providing I didn't mind walking out in the rain with her from time to time!
Just a postscript - it has now been announced by the Leeds Weather Centre that one and a quarter inches of rain was recorded in Sheffield in one hour on Monday afternoon - I think I can vouch for this !
Stormstroller
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