Uwishunu.com

If you find yourself in the Fairmount area during a sudden downpour, neighborhood businesses have got your back, and it’s probably still dry. Although I’m philosophically in favor of getting caught in the rain every once in a while (keeps you from taking yourself too seriously), sometimes it’s just not the day for a lesson in humility.

Enter Dutch Umbrella. It’s an umbrella sharing system being piloted in Philly, named to evoke the community bicycle program in Amsterdam. How it works: Several local shops and restaurants serve as “RainDrops”– stations where the stranded shopper or diner can borrow and return an umbrella free of charge. In exchange for a fee the businesses get ad space on the umbrellas and, potentially, more customers during rainstorms. Patrons return the umbrellas to any of the locations, which, according to the web site, will soon expand their scope to Center City.

The umbrellas themselves are outfitted with RFID tags (that’s radio-frequency identification, for you Luddites) to keep track of where they go and what they do. I guess the hope is that between that and the assumption that Philadelphians will keep it classy-like when it comes to returning them, the umbrella stands will stay stocked and we the people will stay dry. And maybe even warm and fuzzy from that progressive Netherlands community-spirit vibe.

www.dutchumbrella.com