flooding at waterparks

Monday, August 04, 2008 A Raincoat in a Waterpark? We all travel in the amusement park business, and we all get caught in the rain. So I'd like to share this experience/rant.

My old raincoat is wearing out so last weekend, following a heavy downpour, I visited two major department stores here in St Louis to shop for a replacement. Neither store was carrying them – I was informed they were out of season. (It is late July. Hurricane Dolly has just flooded Texas, but more to the point, recently there was disastrous flooding in areas of the Midwest very close to here.) One saleslady gave me quite a lecture indicating that 1) an umbrella was preferable, 2) the rain would be over soon, 3) it was incorrect of me to desire a raincoat. The reason my raincoat is tattered is I had this same experience four years ago. I had just moved to Richmond, VA. It was early August and the middle of hurricane season. The remnants of tropical storm Gaston would, a few weeks later, flood a low-lying region of the city and demonstrate just how well SUVs float. After the third department store, I decided my existing raincoat could make it a while longer. This time around, I visited a sporting goods store and bought a slicker. It's not the fashionable trench coat I was envisioning but it will keep me dry while I'm walking the dog in a shower, and it buys me time to shop for a raincoat online. But I can't help wondering about the mindset of the department store buyers. It can rain pretty much any time of the year in most parts of the US, so what exactly is "seasonal" about a raincoat? And supposing I had been clever enough to purchase a raincoat during the approved season (fall, I think, is when stores here deign to carry them) – what if it were lost or stolen? What if I were traveling to a rainy destination and wanted to be prepared? Do they sell raincoats year-round in London, New York, Beijing or Mumbai? Am I really the only person looking for a raincoat when it's raining?
Posted By Judith Rubin -- At 5:36 PM \| Comments (1) \| Trackbacks (0)
Categories Attractions Business Tags flooding, rain, weather
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Comments :

I am so thrilled to find this blog as I had similar experience at REI & Macy's in Saint Louis. You feel like a great big minority to want to own a rain coat in this part of the country. Personally I have never liked an umbrellas as you have to hassle with the wind trying take it or turn it upside down when you need it the most. Also, one has to be mindful of their fellow pedestrian so not to poke their eyes out- which not many umbrella holding people do as I have had some near misses.

So these stores do sell these great big spaceship size yet flimsy/collapsing umbrellas OUT of Season just not raincoats. Go figure!

Anyhow, thanks for the online site address to put an end to my six month long raincoat search.

Comment By Punita At 9/15/2008 6:44 PM