Happy Sunday, everyone!

Every Wednesday, blogging buddy Aaron over at The Confusing Middle posts a “Sunday Scribblings” prompt for other bloggers to ponder and respond to on the following Sunday. If you’re a blogger looking for more inspiration, I highly recommend jumping in and joining in on the fun!

This week’s prompt is: Umbrella!

Because of my recent dental surgery (tweet about it below), general depression, and sleepiness, I was considering skipping this week’s Sunday Scribblings.

CW Dental work, Blood
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Yesterday, I had to get a gum graft done and I was TERRIFIED. I’ve had a gum recession on one of my front lower teeth for as long as I can remember, and it was finally time to get it taken care of. In my dental journey, I’ve had countless fillings, 1/

— Renata Leo | Buffalo Sauce Everywhere (@renataoleo) March 9, 2022

I saw the Sunday Scribblings prompt and couldn’t really come up with anything. Did I have a story about an umbrella? Maybe something with relation to the Rihanna song Umbrella? No, I didn’t think so…

But then, after a bit of thought…

I had this friend in college. We didn’t have any classes together that I can remember, he just lived in my freshman dorm and joined the orientation team. He was also part of a fraternity on campus, and since I was in a sorority, I saw him pretty frequently. He was a sweetheart, and I enjoyed the time that we spent together at parties and on the orientation staff.

Oddly enough, this particular friend often ended up having several of my items at different times during our college careers.

When I was a senior, the summer before orientation, the orientation staff had a big pasta dinner. Even though we were eating at this friend’s house, he didn’t have a colander to drain the pasta. Of course, I gave him hell all the way back to my apartment to get my colander. Who plans a pasta dinner without a colander, anyway?!

When everyone left that night, he assured me that I would get my colander back as soon as he washed it. Well, you know how often things get washed in a frat house. Needless to say, after several weeks, I was sure I would never see my colander again.

Months later, we both attended the same party. I had my apartment keys and my wallet on me but no pockets or purse to carry them in. You can call this mistake number 1. Because I trusted my friend and he obviously had more pockets than I did, he agreed to hold my keys and wallet for me. Yes, as you guessed, this was mistake number 2.

My friend didn’t steal my things, however, he did return to his apartment that night without letting me know he was leaving, forgetting that he had my keys and wallet. I called him over and over as I was about to leave the party, panicked that I wouldn’t have my keys for the foreseeable future. This was the colander incident all over again!

He answered the umpteenth time I called and apologized, saying that he’d give me my stuff back the following day. I’m sure that I answered with something like “you mean how you gave me back my colander?!”

But, realizing that keys are more important than some plastic kitchenware, the next day, he returned my keys and my colander with the words, “Jeez, Renata, you’re so demanding! I couldn’t imagine you as a lover.” And it is possibly my favorite insult I’ve ever received.

I know what you’re thinking: Renata, what does this have to do with umbrellas?

Well, my freshman year of college, my family took our last trip to Lancaster, PA complete with outlet shopping. In one of those small cheesy shops with tons of knick knacks, I fell in love with a colorful umbrella that when opened, looked like a giant flower. My parents gladly bought it for me (along with a mini Christmas tree and contraband string lights for me to put up in my dorm room).

Someday after they bought it for me, the aforementioned friend asked to use it. This was my freshman year, well before those senior year incidents, so I was still very naïve to how this arrangement would end. I agreed, making him swear up and down to give it back to me before I needed it again.

You know he didn’t, right?

The next time it rained, I had to walk back to my dorm umbrella-less, cursing him under my breath the entire time. Once I got back to my room, I sent him an equally vulgar text, telling him that he’d better get up to my room to hand deliver my umbrella immediately. He finally did return it then (you know, after I had already walked home in the rain), but I was sure to never loan him my umbrella again. Something I obviously had forgotten by senior year.

Remember everyone, neither a borrower nor a lender be. Especially when it’s your only umbrella…

Photo by yechan park on Unsplash