We were out walking on Wood Street in Wilkinsburg when we came across a building festooned with inspiring sayings, painted by a local artist, about self-reliance and psychological health. We had just read the panel that said “Nothing falls from the sky.” How true, we thought. In order to succeed in the world, it is necessary to make one’s own—

But then there was a sudden cloudburst, and the rain came down in buckets, and we were forced to dash for shelter.