Fact or Crap

Last Christmas my friend, MeiLei, gave me a Fact or Crap calendar. It has a new tidbit each day on a variety of things from politics to sports, food to movies. You are supposed to guess if the information is true or false.

I have a lot of crap stored in my longterm memory (which I like to call important trivia, thank you very much). Now at least once a day, I add one more tidbit to that ever increasing trivia data bank. Of course I always forget the boring stuff (i.e. politics, sports ~SNORE!~ and the like).

Here is today's Fact Or Crap which just happens to be relevant to work:

The umbrella was invented in Japan in the early 14th century.

Answer: Crap

Here are the facts:

Named for the word 'umba' which is Latin for 'shadow' or 'shade', the bumbershoot dates back to antiquity. Not to be confused with umbrellas, the equally useful parasol was designed to shade sensitive skinned folks from the sun.

Today's umbrellas have come a long way from the plain black versions. There are so many sizes, colors, designs and features that there is the perfect umbrella for any need.

So next time the rain drops are falling on your head, pop open your colorful bumbershoot, put on those rain boots and get singing and dancing in the rain!