Man up, England.

For a country with pretty grim weather we all seem so bloody surprised and shell-shocked when it rains.

Today, Tuesday the 13th of December, it rained from morning to... well the time of writing this which is 6pm.

As a girl who has grown up between England and Dublin, I understand that the rain is an unfortunate but inevitable event. We do not live in a particularly sunny or warm country, and according to the Met Office the South of England sees between 35 and 40 'wet days' between December and February.

You would assume that the sensible approach for individuals to take is to check the weather forecast before dressing in the morning, then dress appropriately, and if it is a predicted 'wet day' to wear a some relatively hardy outerwear (I own a selection of wonderful coats so I'm sorted), waterproof shoes (if you live in England and don't own at least one pair of Wellington boots you probably shouldn't describe yourself as English) and an umbrella. Simple! That's only three items, and two of which (the coat and shoes) are essential staples in the English winter wardrobe anyway.

Sadly, very few humans seem to be as advanced as I am. (That's a joke, I'm an 18 year old art student, this is a pause where you should laugh about how tongue in cheek I'm being.) Girls still manage to leave their homes wearing ballet flats and subsequently whine about how cold and wet their feet are. People of both gender manage to forget an umbrella - but look, men, you don't have to do your make up in the mornings, you can't even bring an umbrella out? Having one up is an ace way to meet women, trust me. In this kind of weather umbrella sales sky rocket - and I know this because I work in a shop that sells umbrellas to soaking people who look so irritated by the sky deliberately picking on them and only them.

But I think the worst thing about the rain, forget how cold and wet it makes you because you're ill-dressed for the season, is how British people still manage to get so surprised about it. "Oh bloody hell, it's raining"... er well yeah it is... because we live in England - the country famed for bad weather and no signature dish. So when I set up to wait for the bus today I shouldn't have been surprised by the electronic timetable reading "280: Thame/Aylesbury - 10 minutes" followed by "15 minutes" and in the end I waited 30 minutes for a bus that was due 20 minutes ago. Thank you, Arriva. What I don't understand is why the buses have to run so slow. I know it's raining, I know it's slightly more dangerous, but I am pretty sure tyres nowadays are built to stand up to that kind of thing. If it can run in the snow, it can run in the rain.

So the jist of this blog is: man up, England. It's only a slightly colder, more clothed version of a nice hot shower! Just remember your umbrella, your coat, and your sensible shoes. And don't make me talk to you like I'm your mother, I don't like it.