The Storm before Spring

Today it is warm and trees are preparing for the Spring, but the past weekend saw a storm in the area ripping electricity lines, felling trees, and flooding basements. I walked into the subway, wet and waited for the train. There was a Gypsi girl on the platform singing, you guessed it, Rihanna's Umbrella. The city streets were not just puddles and racing cabs with glorious sprays, but a true collage of umbrellas, abandoned where they fell, twisted metal, collapsed shafts and ripped fabric. What sorta Economy supports picking up an Umbrella when it rains and abandoning it before hopping into a cab? (cost of materials, labor for assembly, shipping, humans to distribute and sell it and feed their families, all for $5 total per Umbrella.)