The idea of umbrella-as-weapon is not as far-fetched as it may seem.
"Another theory borrows from the idea of an umbrella as a protector against the storms of life," says one website: "If you were to open one in your home, the household guardian spirits might think you felt their protection was insufficient, and then they'd leave in a huff".
Even if you aren't keen on the idea of sharing your umbrella with a stranger, Umbrella Here still has several functions that might be helpful.
As a staunch introvert who prefers wide swaths of personal space, I find the idea behind Umbrella Here frightening, yet strangely compelling.
"Thirty years ago, the idea of giving someone an umbrella was akin to giving them a box of paper clips," Mr. Catt said.
The original is the highfalutin idea of ourselves as bowler-wearing, umbrella-toting posh-lords who spend our time politely tutting at the weather, saluting the Queen, being into imperialism and writing strongly-worded letters to the editor of The Times.
Starting out with a concept that was completely empty, he said, "produced a sort of umbrella that contained all the different song ideas".
'So we came up with the idea of the folding fabric roof, the umbrella idea,' he says.
And when you think about the Humanities, the idea of Humanities, it is a broad umbrella of knowledge--is this knowledge going to get me a job; is this knowledge going to build me a cabinet?
The heroine of "Umbrella" is one of those people.
So there's a lot of umbrella etiquette on a rainy day downtown, and while this partially-retractable umbrella concept might complicate your umbrella experience, on the whole it's probably a good idea.
