Man cursed to be rained on forever

[PaulMmn]

There was a story I once read-- town in the middle of a severe drought. In the midst of this, a new store opened, selling shoe laces. All sorts. Plain, fancy, multi-colored... Things were going well until the drought broke, and the rains came... and all the new shoelaces melted. Owner of the store was an alien, of course!

 

[Danny McG]

There was a story I once read-- town in the middle of a severe drought. In the midst of this, a new store opened, selling shoe laces. All sorts. Plain, fancy, multi-colored... Things were going well until the drought broke, and the rains came... and all the new shoelaces melted. Owner of the store was an alien, of course!

Pesky aliens, trying to take over our shoe accessories

 

[Ravensquawk]

Pesky aliens, trying to take over our shoe accessories

"Shoes" by Robert Sheckley

 

[Ravensquawk]

Looking for a short story. Classic science fiction (~1940 to 1990).

A man is cursed such that no matter where he goes, the weather will always be rainy where he is.

Eventually he sells his services to farmers who need rain, etc.

Maybe Robert Heinlein?

So, was it our poor unhappy truck-driving rain god, about whom "All the clouds knew was that they loved him and wanted to be near him, to cherish him, and to water him."?

Or do we need to keep searching?

 

[Dave92f1]

Thanks, all, for your efforts. It was definitely not Douglas Adams (and I'm 90% sure the story I'm looking for predates the first Hitchhiker's Guide book - I think it's likely pre-1970). And it was also definitely not "Rain, Rain, Go Away" (but it might have been a different Asimov story).

I had no idea there were so many stories with similar ideas.

 

[Pyan]

There's a great scene in MIIB where Agent K explains to Laura (the Light of Zartha) that she's not sad because it's raining, but in fact it rains because she's sad...
Not strictly relevant, but if she was sad all the time...

 

[JunkMonkey]

The reverse of this idea has also been used.

In the BD, Il fera beau demain (It Will be Nice Tomorrow) - the protagonist can't be rained on. In the wettest summer Paris has ever know he wanders around with a column of not raining over his head. It rains everywhere else. Just not on him. As a super power goes it's pretty useless and he spends most of his time helping little old ladies do their shopping without getting wet.

Il fera beau demain - BD, informations, cotes

Tout sur la série Il fera beau demain : Pas facile d'être un super-héros quand son seul pouvoir n'arrête que la pluie. Enfin, 'arrêter' c'est un bien grand mot. Disons, la pluie ne nous mouille pas. Peu de chance de sauver le monde avec un tel pouvoir... À part narguer les gens en terrasse les...

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