A horrible hat experience.

[Roadrunner]

Listen to Bill, he's a smart man. I will also add that it does get better, at least it did for me. High school wasn't a lot of fun in many ways, but I can honestly say it has improved. There are still good people out there, it's just hard to remember after an incident like this. Hang tough (and don't leave your hat by the doorway anymore.)

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Who ever said that high school is the best years of your life was out of their mind!

Those would be the cheerleaders, sports stars and hat-stompers...not the hat-stompees...

Living well is the best revenge...in a few years, when real life starts to knock those types around, they'll find they have no skills for coping with disappointment and start to realize the error of their ways. Seems like all the big shots from when I was in high school are today's losers and have bitter attitudes because the silver platters everything was handed to them from in high school & college suddenly disappear and they can't handle it.

 

[IsabellaPrice]

Thanks for the advice everyone (especially Bill!). There's no point at becoming aquainted with anyone in that class, or most of my classes. Nearly every student that was involved with trying to kill my hat is usually high on drugs or just so dim they don't realize anything. I don't want to be slightly associated with anyone like that. I'm sure they didn't intentionally step on my hat and coat, it was in the way of their lockers. But even so, if I saw somebody's hat, or anything really, on the floor I'd pick it up for them. Maybe even clean it off if I have to. I most certainly wouldn't step on it.

On another occasion, I was wearing a really old collapsible top hat (circa 1900) and these fools decided to put and animal cracker on the back brim of my hat. I felt them put it there, so I grabbed it and looked back at them, giving them a 'you're very childish' look. And them I gave the cracker to my friend.

But oh well. I usually just turn my head and ignore anyone who decides to make fun of my in my eccentric choice of hats and clothing.

what style is it? i've got a few fixer-uppers in your size.

let me know.

My hat's alright now, except for a little fur loss on the brim. But I'd be interested in some fixer-uppers. I'm a size 7 1/2 (21" around my head).

Let me know what types you have in that size and for how much.

 

[Aerol]

Hat size

I'll need some help from other FLers here:

If I did the math correctly, 21" circumference is a 6-7/8 hat size. You should go to a hat store, or at least a store that sells hats, and try on a number of them to get your size.

My 23-1/2" noggin is just slightly larger than a 7-1/2.

 

[mingoslim]

Amen . . .

Who ever said that high school is the best years of your life was out of their mind!

AMEN!

 

[Kevin Popejoy]

I lived at a time when we were forced to either pray or spend a moment of silence in school, also when we pledged the flag -- kids were just as mean and cruel and nasty then as they are now.

Maybe the paddling would do it.

karol

We did all that and had corporal punishment. The principal would leave the door of his office open when he applied the rod (a standard fraternity style paddle). He had holes drilled in it so it would whistle through the air...very creative. It wasn't a very large school building so we all heard the swats quite well. We didn't have a lot of issues with disrespect or impolite behavior. The parents didn't complain either. k

 

[John in Covina]

Shock and Awe -Parental Style

Paddling and spanking were then the shock & awe of disipline. If applied too often it lost its meaning. Most kids were paddled few times in their school career. I believe i got the paddle once in Jr High form the German teacher and there was no need for a repeat lesson.

Paddling and spanking were meant to cut thru all of the kid's BS and restore the parental or loco parentis control. It was not supposed to be about torture but a reminder as to who was in charge. As to being spanked at home I can recall 2 instances, one at about 6 or 7 and again at about 10-11.
As such I did not live in terror of my dad, although I was a lot less likely to get out of hand with that result in mind.

We all have heard of parents that lost control of themselves and went too far and some kids that were so wild even that type of disipline was inevitably found to be ineffective. But that was not the majority nor a large minority but a very infrequently seen result.

So now I'd ask if we are more likely to be in a market or store or at a restaurant and have some family the center of attention because their kids are doing a major freakout in modern day America or in our "evil" past?

 

[tandmark]

Nothing excuses what they did, but in the future maybe you should make a point of getting acquainted with the people in the class, at least at a superficial level. And losing your temper just doesn't work, however justified it is. Talking to the perps and explaining that the hat has value will embarrass most to behave.

Ohaiyoo Kabuto-san,

Your suggestion might work well in a Tokyo suburb, but might not be as successful in a southern California suburb.

My guess is that, if IsabellaPrice tries to discuss the incident with those other students, that hat will be stomped on every day until IsabellaPrice graduates. Or else every fedora brought in will be stolen.

It's just one of those weird cultural differences, I guess. [huh]

[fftopic:] Also, for all those who say they wish paddling were returned to US schools, I'd say that the real issue is bad parenting. A kid raised wrong who gets paddled is just a bad kid with a thick hide. What's the gain in that?

But I could be wrong. And our varying opinions on this topic can't be applied in IsabellaPrice's situation anyway. Could we go back to talking about hats now?[/fftopic:]

喝采 / Cheers,
Mark

 

[John in Covina]

[fftopic:] Also, for all those who say they wish paddling were returned to US schools, I'd say that the real issue is bad parenting. A kid raised wrong who gets paddled is just a bad kid with a thick hide. What's the gain in that? But I could be wrong. And our varying opinions on this topic can't be applied in IsabellaPrice's situation anyway. Could we go back to talking about hats now?[/fftopic:] 喝采 / Cheers, Mark

****************
80-90% of the kids that got paddled at school were not the victims of bad parenting, but good kids that got a little wild during the course of the day. Getting the paddle is what brought then back to their senses and helped bring them back to the straight and narrow.

 

[donCarlos]

I say bring back:
1. Prayer in school
2.The pledge and the national anthem
3.Paddling...

That should solve the problems...:eusa_clap

Glad your hat made it through the battle...

The third point is great and I agree! The two other ones are...errrr....fanatizing.

Isabellaprice - I´m really sory for the hat. I know what it takes to be on high school and wear a hat. Luckily, I finished the high school one week ago It wasn´t so much about the disrespect here, it was more about curiosity, which had the same effect. Lots of people trying to touch my hat, try my hat, always handling it the wrong way... Now when somebody approaches my hat, I´m about to start shooting (metaphoricaly).

 

[freebird]

In middle school I had a brand new black western hat, my classmates grabbed it from my desk and stomped it flat. I think that was the last time I wore a hat in school, and for a long time thereafter as well.

 

[John in Covina]

In middle school I had a brand new black western hat, my classmates grabbed it from my desk and stomped it flat. I think that was the last time I wore a hat in school, and for a long time thereafter as well.

***************
That is the type of response you'd expect from City Folk up north. Conform or be cast out.

I have had hats grabbed off my head or knocked off from behind as a teen or early twenties. Some how the youthful expression of conformity results in unfortunate acting out.

 

[YETI]

kids these days ...

If they're not defiling another's cherished head cover, they're screwing their hot blondie teacher or shooting each other in the classroom.

 

[Paisley]

I'm sorry about your hat. If you lose your temper, though, you'll end up looking like Frank Burns on M*A*S*H. Remember all the practical jokes he went through? If he'd been able to shrug it off, it wouldn't have been any fun for the jokers and they would have stopped.

Of course, some people are very persistent. Once those people are grownups, they'll be the object of restraining orders.

 

[IsabellaPrice]

I'm sorry about your hat. If you lose your temper, though, you'll end up looking like Frank Burns on M*A*S*H. Remember all the practical jokes he went through? If he'd been able to shrug it off, it wouldn't have been any fun for the jokers and they would have stopped.

Of course, some people are very persistent. Once those people are grownups, they'll be the object of restraining orders.

The people who stomped on my hat didn't do it to be funny. It was in their way and they were trying to get to their lockers. I lost my temper because I was so disgusted by their sheer disregard for another's property. I consider myself a pacifist. Ask anyone I know personally and they'll agree. I usually ignore anyone who tries to put me down or insult me for the clothing (not only hats, I collect vintage clothing, sunglasses, and gloves) I choose to wear because I know that they are only doing it to make themselves feel good. ((For example- I wore a East Germany peaked military hat to school when I was going to a German museum and these fools were following me around making Hitler salute signs at me and yelling "Heil Hitler!")) I never lose my temper in public (only when I'm at home, and it's rare then), but I was going through a lot of personal problems at the time and the last thing I needed was for a group of people to disrespect my possessions. Especially something that's so important to me as my fedora.

I do fear for the future of the economy. Especially seeing firsthand the people that will be the future of our world.

 

[Mark Brody]

Well, I've got good and bad news for you. People grow up, no matter how hard they may try not to. Someday, you may very well likely be friends with people who you'd have never associated with in high school (such as your classmates with less than stellar reputations).

The bad news is; the hat ignorance WON'T stop after high school. I went to a college party (not a wild drinking party - but a social get together), and everyone was throwing their coats on one chair. I followed suit and threw my coat on the pile, but I put my hat on the floor under the chair - well protected, had it been left there. By the time I grabbed my coat to leave the party, I saw that my hat had been thrown on top of the pile. More guests must have arrived after my hat had been moved, because there were a few coats stacked on top of my hat, too. I'd once forgotten that same hat in a restaurant, too. Fortunately, the restaurant kept the hat in a managers office, but when it was returned to me, I couldn't tell which side was the front.

I wish I could say that the hat came out unscathed, but unfortunately this is not the case. The felt in the front of the crown is starting to wear thin. I can feel it. I hardly ever wear the hat anymore for fear of putting a hole in it. It's a real shame, too because it's the best hat I'll ever own. A vintage beaver Stetson with a cavanaugh brim.

 

[Paisley]

I've found it general good practice to avoid taking anything someplace where it might get damaged. My delicate white shoes stay home when I go anywhere sandy, gravelly, dirty or crowded. My white purse stays home if there is no clean, dry place to set down it where I'm going. Since you're not wearing your hat in class, could you put it in your locker or leave it in your car?

Your classmates don't sound much different from mine or my parents'. A classmate of my mother's used to grab her pencil and break it. My uncle was making curtains for the classroom and accidentally sewed them to his pants. And then there was my father...who once rode his horse into school. I don't know about the pencil-breaker, but the rest of them did all right.