In western culture, when it rains, people run to take shelter. If they don’t have umbrellas, people will often cluster under the awning of a building to stay dry in the rain stops. People walking down the street will often use something like a newspaper as a makeshift umbrella, which is almost comical in how utterly ineffective it is. People go through great lengths to avoid getting rained on. Yet that’s strange because (unless the weather is cold), rain is not painful whatsoever. It doesn’t hurt. At worst, it may mess up your dry-clean only clothes, but otherwise, it’s unclear why people go through such lengths to avoid the rain.
Is this common in all cultures? Are there cultures where people simply accept getting rained on as a not unpleasant experience? What about primitive cultures that don’t have dry-clean only clothes – do they stand there getting wet or do they run for shelter under the trees too?
Rain can cause heat loss which is not a pleasant physical sensation in many circumstances. Rain also tends to make clothes damp which leads to wearability and smell issues. I imagine certain people in difficult climates are inured to the rain. IIRC I think the natives of Tierra del Fuego are noted for largely ignoring inclement weather.
When I lived in Dubai, we would often go outside into the garden to stand in the rain on the rare occasions when it happened. I think it rained on about 5 different days during the three years I was there.
And within western culture, there’s enormous variation.
In my home town (think Arizona desert weather, these pics are taken within city land) rain is rare, but not so rare as to be considered a wonder. Four drops are enough to make people hide (then again, usually those four drops are mud; dusty atmosphere for the win).
I lived four years in Miami (five summers, as both moves were in August). Three of those summers were very hot and very dry; the other two were milder but it started pouring at 7:45am and stopped at 11:45pm, and I mean pouring. Hiding from the rain wouldn’t have worked at all; instead, people learned to drive in the rain, carry dry clothing in almost-sealed containers and keep a change of clothes at work. People didn’t walk in the rain a lot, but that’s because in general people in Miami don’t walk further than the bathroom.
I grew up in the tropics. It was certainly not unknown for us to race out to play in the rain, given that if it was the Wet Season and not raining it was stinking hot and humid - enough to make it difficult to actually do anything. Remember rain in the tropics is not cold (generally speaking).
Mind you I have been trapped a long way from my car in a tropical storm when I had to keep my face down to be able to breathe because it was so heavy. That wasn’t fun.
Because the result of standing in the rain is that you get wet. And it’s uncomfortable to sit around indoors (at work, school, the movies, a restaurant, etc.) in wet clothes & shoes.
Its human nature to do whats comfortable. So if its uncomfortable, humans will avoid it. Its not a culture thing, its a human thing. Rain is generally cold and humans do not like getting too cold…or too hot for that matter. As for cultures, its generally avoided. Humans of course, will go out in the rain to cool off if its too hot…cause too hot is uncomfortable! If your wondering if a culture is indifferent to “wet” you may want to find some mermaids.
We compensate by having snow fall mainly on the mount(ain)s. When our history teacher told us that Egyptians used to worship the Nile because they realized their lives depended completely on it, one of my classmates exclaimed “just like here!” The most caudalous river in Spain goes by my home town.
Jokes aside, one of the things I like about Spain is the enormous variation in weather patterns, from “England-like” on what we call the Northern edge, to desertic, to high mountain, to Mediterranean (which rain-wise means “getting all the year’s rain in a single month in the fall”).
I’d agree with Solarnator, it’s a comfort thing and humans value comfort.
I’m a retired mailman and spent a lot of time in the rain. If it’s cool or windy the rain makes you cold. If it’s warm enough that you enjoy the cooling of the rain it still makes your clothes stick to you so moving is unpleasant. If you wear a raincoat it’s either too hot or too cumbersome. Rain washes sweat into your eyes and stings. Rain makes your shoes move on your feet and leads to blisters.
My guess would be that clothing-wearing cultures all avoid the rain.
It makes sense to find shelter in heavy rain, but I can’t grok why people freak out in even very light rain.
Expressions as though in agonising pain…trotting around while hunched forward…umbrellas out as soon as the first tiny droplet is noticed…wtf?
btw: to the OP – well done on using “try to” instead of “try and”. I know “try and” is considered acceptable now, but to me it’s like fingernails on a blackboard…
People who camp or hike soon get used to the rain, because there’s no way to avoid it.
If you are prepared, you take steps to keep your gear and your feet dry.
I’ve been on hikes in which it rained continuously for days. You put a pack cover on your backpack to keep your gear dry, wear a raincoat, and wear boots with a Gore-Tex liner.
Hikers usually wear synthetic inner layers of clothes, with a fleece for warmth, followed by a water resistant outer layer because of the inevitable rain in most places. The mantra for hikers and campers is “cotton kills,” because cotton is useless for warmth when it gets wet, and it takes a long time to dry.
The OP needs to visit Seattle. You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone selling umbrellas in Washington state - we just don’t use them even when we have to walk around in the rain. The trick is to wear outer garments that can be removed when you get inside, especially if they are either waterproof, like synthetics, or keep moisture on the outside while staying warm, like wool.
Of course, Seattle “rain” is mostly a light drizzle. We don’t get downpours like you see in Arizona’s seasonal monsoons.
That said, we’re pretty much like everyone else. When it gets too wet, we head indoors. As your technology level goes up, being wet becomes more of an inconvenience than a threat, but I can’t really think of anyone in any culture who likes being wet.
Ehr… I’m not sure it exists properly in English, actually… sorry. I do find it in google (not in the dictionaries I have handy), but several of the pages where I find it are from Hispanic countries.
I meant the one which carries most water, averaged through the whole year (the Tajo or Tagus is longer).
Because the result of standing in the rain is that you get wet. And it’s uncomfortable to sit around indoors (at work, school, the movies, a restaurant, etc.) in wet clothes & shoes.