casual place for hats

[cool hat]

I was wondering is it ok to keep your stingy or fedora on, while at a fast food or very casual place to eat? Or can you stand in line order your food with hat on, then take it off when you get to your table?

 

[Alexander]

I never take my hat off at fastfood resturants, not even while I´m eating but if I eat at a resturants with a little more "quality" I take off the hat while eating not when standing in line to order, unless you order to a waiter at your table

 

[donCarlos]

You probably should, but those places don´t deserve such a respect from you. Moreover, there is no place to put you hat in, so it´ll be best to leave it on.

There also was a discussion on the hats at the bars - the result was that it´s not really necessary to remove your hat while sitting at the bar.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

To my mind, eating with a hat on is reserved for bbq's and picnics. It just seems rude to me otherwise. [huh]

Granted, it's hard to find a place to put a hat when eating in a fast food place. But since most regular restaurants don't have a place either, that really isn't an excuse. If you can find a way in one, you can find a way in another.

So far, I have only once been forced to eat with my hat on, but two bites in, I just got up and put the thing in my car, then went back to enjoy my meal.

 

[Goose.]

To my mind, eating with a hat on is reserved for bbq's and picnics. It just seems rude to me otherwise. [huh]
...

No matter where I am at, if I am seated while eating, I remove my hat. Th exception being an outdoor gig like N-B13 does too.
In line at a fast food place, I leave it on.

As for a bar, my dad was a part time bartender at NCO Clubs in Pearl Harbor and Subic Bay. But I recall that if a service member wore his cover while seated at the bar itself, he would have to buy a round. As for me, in cilvilian bars, if it's a decent place, I remove my lid while seated.
If it's a dive bar, I leave it on...so, much more often than not, mine stays on when I'm at a bar

Note that the above is what "I" do and not referencing what may be socially right (as I lost that playbook)

Gonna look up that bar thread as it seems like it would be interesting to read...thanks for mentioning it Don Carlos .

 

[gtdean48]

An old cowboy sayings book titled Don't Squat With Your Spurs On states that if you are seated & eating at the counter, no need to remove your hat. If you are seated at a table, remove your hat. If I am handling a tray, I'll put my hat, tilted back, on my head to keep my hands free, but take it off on reaching my table. My grandpa said never wear a hat in "the house" as in where folks live, court house or church (God's house). Nobody lives in a burger joint! Lots of threads on this topic. JMHO.

 

[cool hat]

thanks guys for the info!

 

[Dewhurst]

There is no "appropriate" dress for fast food joints. If 19 year old girls can eat there with bits hanging out, you can feel no shame when you tip your hat back and jam in to a Big Mac.

My rule of thumb is two-fold: 1. Do they provide a place for me to hang or stow my hat? 2. Will wearing my hat get in anyone's way?

If the two answers are no, don't feel obligated to take it off.

Nice sit down restaurants are different. They usually provide a place to stow away hats. Otherwise, you fold your jacket and place your hat on top of it in your booth, or whatever.

Only leave your hat on in a house if you are only staying for a moment (gotta run, type situation), or if the person says, "You can leave your hat on". Then it is ok, obviously, as you have been given permission by the resident.

Oh yeah, I forgot to say, if the restaurant is really tiny inside this can go either way. It may be more economical to keep it on. Then again, it may be so cramped that getting it off will be more considerate of others.

 

[cool hat]

thanks guys for the info.

 

[irb]

You probably should, but those places don´t deserve such a respect from you. Moreover, there is no place to put you hat in, so it´ll be best to leave it on.

I hope you don't my saying so, because it is absolutely not my intention to start a ruckus, but any place that affords a person the ability to support themselves or their families deserves some respect. You or I may not find fast food restaurants to our taste and that respectful gesture may not, in the worst cases, be returned--but just because they don't pay as well as Chez Couture does not mean they're somehow beneath us.

That said, living in Arizona I would keep my hat on in line, it being a public space of sorts, and then remove it at the table unless I were wearing a cowboy hat. In that case, out here, one dines with one's hat on, pardner.

 

[Stoney]

I stick to the old rule of eating at a counter=hat on. Otherwise it's hat off.

 

[Viggen]

These days I think a lot of hat removal options have gone away - as in, where to put it. If there is no good safe place for my hat it stays on and I tend not to agree with irb on this one even though we live in the same chunk of desert .
If there is someplace to put the hat I usually take it off just for the sake of comfort.

 

[irb]

These days I think a lot of hat removal options have gone away - as in, where to put it. If there is no good safe place for my hat it stays on and I tend not to agree with irb on this one even though we live in the same chunk of desert .
If there is someplace to put the hat I usually take it off just for the sake of comfort.

Oh, I think we do agree--out here in the West it's perfectly acceptable to leave your hat on at the dinner table. I prefer not to, since it goes against my upbringing and makes me uncomfortable, but that's a personal choice. I may come around the longer I live out here, who knows.