The Art of Vending in the Rain

[offcntr]

There's an art to dumping water off the roof.

It accumulates, no matter how well-designed the canopy. The material sags, quarts of water pool. If you don't get it off, it starts to seep through the weave, and before you know it, it's started to rain inside the booth. This is not what I had in mind when I shelled out $283 for my EZ Up.

My roof is four-sided, vaguely pyramid-shaped, so water accumulates on either side of the ridge on all four corners. I could just punch up under each corner, but water would fly every which-way, incidentally splashing the neighbor to the right--whose canopy has no sides--and drenching the neighbor to the left, who has no roof at all, poor wet dear.

So I splash backwards, onto the landscaping, then forwards, not the sidewalk, first checking that there's no pedestrians coming. After that, I carefully coax water from the side panels up over the seam and on to the front or back. And splash again. Repeat as necessary.

It's necessary a lot today. The magnolia tree that provides us with lovely shade on sunny days, today directs all the rain from its canopy onto mine.

If you're just going for a random, neighbor-antagonizing splash, you can just jump up and punch the belly of the puddle sagging down into your roof. For more controlled drainage, it helps to have a tool. I used the blunt bottom of a pitcher for the first pass; afterwards, I employ the edge of Denise's lap desk board.

It's worked so far. Haven't hit any neighbors or pedestrians. Only my shoes.