Saturday, March 27, 2010

who holds the umbrella up?









when a man and a woman share an umbrella, who should be holding the umbrella?

i have observed that generally, among senior citizens, the man is likely to hold the umbrella up for his partner. however, for the younger people, i have come across a mix: sometimes it is the woman though most times it is the man.

when i am with my wife, i am normally the (up)holder of the umbrella unless my two hands are full. with other women, it depends on whom i am with.

17 comments:

stanley said...

As for myself and being a male I would prefer to hold up an brolly for a lady as it is considered chivalrous.

Icemoon said...

Since I'm taller than most ladies, I hold the umbrella. More practical this way. Good excuse to push the shopping bags back to the lady.

Victor said...

I avoid this dilemma by offering a lady an umbrella of her own. For this reason, I carry several umbrellas in my car... just in case I am with several ladies and it starts to pour. And before you jump to conclusion again, I treat men the same way too.

yg said...

victor, the quiz question is not who is the provider of umbrellas. the question is who holds the umbrella.

nah said...

It depends on the weather. If it’s pouring cats and dogs, I will hold the umbrella for the lady next to me. But if the weather is hot and she is holding it to avoid getting heat stroke, I will just let her hold that stick, even when my two hands are not full. Holding it when it’s not pouring is too effeminate for a man. Anyway, more women love holding umbrellas nowadays and they prefer them over caps.

peter said...

do u think a woman will share an umbrella with you if u own those waxed umbrellas?

I understand umbrellas also got gender. Some are only for woman and some for guys - heard about this? What's the difference? I was told that woman prefer foldable handle type and guys those heavy types (like golf umbrellas)

yg said...

peter, we are not talking about sexual preference, lah. we are talking about umbrella etiquette.

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Hi YG,
Been a while since I visited your blog. You know the famous song by Frankie Laine in the 60s? You're probably very young then.

Called, 'The Lady With The Big Umbrella' Check it out. Lyrics cute!

yg said...

andy, i found other songs by frankie laine, like 'the wayward wind' and 'i believe' among others but no 'lady with the big umbrella'.

yg said...

andy, i found one version by dean martin. don't know if it is the same song. a humorous song.

yg said...

icemoon has the correct answer. for practical reasons, the taller of the two should hold up the umbrella. i posted this because i have seen two cases of shorter women struggling to shelter their men with an umbrella.

小洋 said...

I’ve seen in Zhangchow where many people prefer to wear umbrellas on their heads instead of holding them in their hands. If the wearable umbrella is big enough, it can be shared by two…..the argument here is who should wear the umbrella!

Yu-Kym said...

I prefer the man to hold the umbrella simply because he's taller. Would be very tiring for me to hold it up so high for a long time. But if he's carrying something for me, of course I will hold it up as high as needed for as long as required :D

yg said...

xiao yang, definitely, the taller person, regardless of sex, should wear the umbrella.

Icemoon said...

I think we missed out the fact the umbrella holder is the coxswain. Other "duties" include wrapping your arm around her shoulder, to keep the two as close as possible.

kimology said...

I may be female but I prefer to hold the umbrella so that I call shade myself properly. My husband or son either hold it too high or too much to his side so that I don't get the shade. Maybe I'm too bossy.

Anonymous said...

My boyfriend has just bought a T Shirt from Koa San Rd in Bangkok with this exact image... did you know how famous you were?