Spats McGee
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,039
- Location
- Arkansas
This past Saturday, my wife called me at work to see if I wanted to join her for lunch. The meeting that I had arranged for Saturday had fallen through and I didn't really want to work much past lunch, anyway. She and I settled on a Chinese restaurant in our local mall & had lunch. I was wearing my Burlington Coat Factory wool fedora, which has escaped being a true "beater" only by virtue of the fact that I haven't found a replacement yet. (I do have my eye on the Akubra Stylemaster, though.)
Anyway, when I arrived at the restaurant, I took off my hat, set it on its crown, and proceeded to browse the menu. While the waiter took our orders, I noticed that he kept glancing at my hat. I fully expected to hear one of the usual remarks, like "nice hat," or "Jake Blues," or what have you. No sooner had he finished taking the order than his hand shot out, retracted, then shot out again and flipped my hat over onto its brim. (I guess he wasn't sure if he was allowed to touch my hat.) "I can't let you do that," he said. Puzzled, I asked why. Here's what he told me: Where he comes from, your spirit is contained in your head and placing the hat on its crown allows some of your spirit to escape. Maybe what he said is accurate, and maybe he was just yanking my chain, but I thought it was interesting, at any rate.
Living in Little Rock, buying a fedora from a real brick-and-mortar store is more than a little tricky. I've pretty much resigned myself to Burlington Coat Factory & the internet. Nonetheless, after lunch, I told my wife that I wanted to go check Dillard's, just in case. I'd noticed that they had a few straw hats during the summer and thought that they might, just might, carry a couple of felts now that colder weather is approaching. Imagine my surprise when, in fact, Dillard's had felt fedoras. They said "Mallory" and "made by Stetson," if I remember correctly. (Please don't quote me on that. I've slept since then.) Looking at the price tag, I suspect that they were wool, but I didn't really check into that, as they didn't have my size.
Anyway, when I arrived at the restaurant, I took off my hat, set it on its crown, and proceeded to browse the menu. While the waiter took our orders, I noticed that he kept glancing at my hat. I fully expected to hear one of the usual remarks, like "nice hat," or "Jake Blues," or what have you. No sooner had he finished taking the order than his hand shot out, retracted, then shot out again and flipped my hat over onto its brim. (I guess he wasn't sure if he was allowed to touch my hat.) "I can't let you do that," he said. Puzzled, I asked why. Here's what he told me: Where he comes from, your spirit is contained in your head and placing the hat on its crown allows some of your spirit to escape. Maybe what he said is accurate, and maybe he was just yanking my chain, but I thought it was interesting, at any rate.
Living in Little Rock, buying a fedora from a real brick-and-mortar store is more than a little tricky. I've pretty much resigned myself to Burlington Coat Factory & the internet. Nonetheless, after lunch, I told my wife that I wanted to go check Dillard's, just in case. I'd noticed that they had a few straw hats during the summer and thought that they might, just might, carry a couple of felts now that colder weather is approaching. Imagine my surprise when, in fact, Dillard's had felt fedoras. They said "Mallory" and "made by Stetson," if I remember correctly. (Please don't quote me on that. I've slept since then.) Looking at the price tag, I suspect that they were wool, but I didn't really check into that, as they didn't have my size.
