brolly etiquette

I find the whole brolly thing fascinating. As an Aussie, rarely does the brolly get a day out, usually only for sunny days, here in Japan, almost as naturally as you put on shoes to go out, you also take the brolly. Of course that is if rain is predicted. I dont know the percentage accuracy of weather forecasts here but I'd have to say its close to 100%. Not only can you find out if it will rain but approximately what time, how cool is that?! There is no such thing as 4 seasons in one day here. Crowded House would never have written that song if they were Japanese! So, today in a moment of madness, I thought I'd go out and get a coffee, in the rain. It's always a challenge with the brolly and the pram. Long Long stays at home on these days. What I didnt realise is that I think some kind of typhoon is coming through......so not only torrential rain but wind so strong it blows you along (and anything you're carrying).....so today I witnessed some etiquette I had not seen before. Even though its raining cats and dogs, everyone puts thier brolly down coz its so damn windy you either lose it to the wind or it gets wrecked from being blown inside out. It was quite amazing to walk along in the rain and see most people wih the brolly down. What was also funny was the HUGE pile of broken brollies piled up at the entrances of most buildings, people just dump them as they go inside. Of course there was someone cleaning them up. Another really cool thing I saw was a brolly drying device. Usually when you go into a shop or building they have long plastic sleeves and a special machine that you put the brolly into and it covers the wet and soggyness, this place might have been a bit more eco friendly and have what look like two white boards mounted on a trolley at ground height. The boards are parallel and have pads stuck on the inside facing each other. So, when you walk into the building you put your brolly in between the boards and shake it so all the water comes off and the pads soak up the water, genius! Then theres the brolly preciousness. You shouldnt have any. I have now lost two brand new brollies because at a restaurant you leave your brolly on the stand with all the others and invariably someone will pick up yours on their way out. So, I think my $5 limit just got reduced to $1....and then theres the lost property. I saw a station master with a huge armful of brollies, all tagged and ready to be returned. Japan is so cool :)