読む editorial by Dennis Sun
『もし雨が降ったら、 中止になります。 』 “If it rains, it’s canceled.” That is the unwritten rule that is practiced by many Filipinos. If it rains, expect people to cancel. They would give a dozen of different reasons for not being able to come. But the truth of the matter is, they don’t want to get out in the rain.
“You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud, too. That’s a part of it.”
– Denzel Washington
06
I wonder why Pinoys are afraid of the rain. Is it about getting wet? Getting your shoes and socks soaking wet? Your jeans and shirt dripping and drenched from the rain? They say, in the Philippines, when it rains, it floods! True, you don’t want to get stranded outside swimming in the middle of a muddy flood with so many things that you don’t want to know floating around you. There is actually a term for fear of the rain. It’s called ombrophobia where “ombros” means “storm of rain” and it’s a fairly common anxiety disorder seen in children and adults alike. For children, they would always associate heavy rain with heavy winds, thunder and lightning. So for some, even a light rain could trigger this fear.
YOMU means to read in Japanese
For adults, it could be a totally different story. Many of my Filipino friends still believe that if they get soaked in the rain, they would get sick the following day or so.
And because the major public transportation system is limited with jeepneys, buses and tricycles, where one ends up soggy wet from the rain and the dirty muddy water splashed from the moving vehicles, who would want to go out? I must confess, I was one of them when I was still in the Philippines. But when I came to Japan, it totally reversed to the opposite direction. I came to love the rain! Transportation is never a problem in Japan. And yes, there are very few people outside and I think that’s even one good reason to go out. Without the crowd. I visit museums in Tokyo regularly and they are always busy. So when the weather forecast is rain for a certain day, I would always look forward to go to a museum or art gallery so I can have an almost private viewing of the art collections.
May - June 2022
