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Be careful who you hand your hat to

univibe88

One Too Many
Messages
1,146
Location
Slidell4Life
A friend of mine was admiring my hat, so I took it off to let him take a closer look. What does he do? He holds it by the crown and squeezes the heck out of it. :rage: It doesn't even have a tight pinch in the front.

It didn't hurt it, but I still had to smack him. lol
 
Messages
10,937
Location
My mother's basement
Well, at least you handed it to him. Truth is, most people wouldn't know that you might have a good reason to object to your hat being handled by the crown pinch. So give him that much.

What I still have a hard time "getting" is why some folks think it appropriate to grab a guy's hat and give it a good once over (while squeezing it by the crown, of course) and then plopping it on their heads! I can't say this has happened to me much in recent years, but it has happened. Just plain poor upbringing, it must be. I mean, would these same people decide it's okay to try on your jacket just because you left it draped over the back of a chair?
 

thunderw21

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,044
Location
Iowa
Recently at church I set my hat on a table and turned my back on it for a few minutes.

When I come back it's still sitting on the table but the bash is completely screwed up. Took me a while to get it back to what it was.

Other people cannot be trusted to respect your property, especially when it's an attractive, soft fedora.
 

Michael10

New in Town
Messages
20
Location
Irving, TX
A posed question to those who want to wear my hat

Many times this has happened to me. I live in Dallas, Texas and you don't see many fedoras, pork pies, or even good summer straws worn here, although I wear one everyday. I agree with prior posts that even asking permission to try ones hat on is in bad form and doing so without asking goes beyond rudeness.

I certainly would not try on another's article of clothing. But, people do with hats more so than one would think. So, I ask them a question that always seems to drive home the point: "Would you want to wear any other article of my clothing - - like my underwear, too?"

This always brings a funny look, but it does give them the idea that hats are only to be worn by the owner.

Best,

Mike
 

MAB1

Suspended
Messages
390
Location
Cool Town
If someone asks I may hand it to them with a warning to be careful w/it. Depending on how inebriated they may be. What burns me is the ones that think it's up there for grabs.
 
Messages
10,937
Location
My mother's basement
It occurs to me now that perhaps there is something about a nice hat that somehow compels otherwise reasonably well-mannered people to handle another person's items of attire. This may well not have been the case back when most men routinely wore fedoras (I was alive for only the end of that era, so I can't claim any firsthand knowledge), but these days, well, I dunno.

As I mentioned previously, it's not that people often grab my hat without permission, but it it does happen. Yeah, they're nice hats, each and every one of them, so I suppose people want to get a better look at 'em and find out if they feel as good to the touch as they appear they might. (People want to touch nice leather jackets, too, I can report, and other materials that appear pleasant to the touch, such as cashmere. But they usually ask permission first, and they certainly don't try 'em on.)

Whaddya think? Does a nice hat somehow ask to be handled? And do people succumb to that voice because they were never told not to? And were they never told not to because they were never alive during a time when the subject was likely to come up?
 

Viper Man

Banned
Messages
860
Location
Stone City, IL
Here's my take on this. I believe that it is so rare to see someone actually wearing a nice hat that people are attracted to it in the way they would be with a prop or novelty item. If you put your "sword" or "rubber chicken" on the table, inevitably someone will pick them up and play with them, too.

People are generally a stupid lot. Even though they don't mean to be offensive or vulgar, most people were simply never taught manners. No offense to your friend. :D

RBH said:
Felt good didnt it.. :D

lol This is the funniest thing I've read all day. Thanks.
 
Messages
10,937
Location
My mother's basement
Yeah, Viper, I think we're on the same page here. A hat is a novelty to some people. Many, maybe. People don't generally set out to be rude or even mildly inconsiderate, but sometimes they don't set out NOT to be, either. It's called thoughtlessness, ain't it? For if they had paused long enough to THINK about whether it is appropriate to handle another person's hat without permission, most people would conclude that it isn't.
 

Abyss

Familiar Face
Messages
66
Location
Not in Kansas anymore, Toto
Viper Man said:
Here's my take on this. I believe that it is so rare to see someone actually wearing a nice hat that people are attracted to it in the way they would be with a prop or novelty item. If you put your "sword" or "rubber chicken" on the table, inevitably someone will pick them up and play with them, too.

That is the complete truth right there, down to the "sword." Working at a renaissance festival, if we wear a sword it has to be tied in to its sheath well because the layperson will see the sword and immediately try to handle it, even pulling it out of its sheath while being worn by you. I suppose that when people wore swords all the time, they didn't have that problem, eh? Hats just have that same allure. Look! It's something odd! I must touch it!
 

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