Responding to public mocking

[Seth Hawkins]

Be yourself.

Just my opinion.

 

[HatsEnough]

Those who make rude comments are too insecure with who they are, and too afraid of someone making the same comments to them, to be themselves....

Pointless pop psychology aside, they are just jerks. They should be treated as such.

The problem today is one of "respect." Everyone is so caught up in the selfish assumption that "I have rights," that they never once consider the same rights of the next guy in line. This is why we should all be allowed to carry guns openly. People will be ever so much nicer and the ones that aren't... well, they won't be around much longer to bother the rest of us. Colonel Colt makes men civil.

 

[fedoralover]

...possibly something funny?

I've been reading through all the posts on this thread and having experienced a few comments myself over the years I think this comment above has always been the best for me personally. Why?? because life, to coin a phrase is "just too short" to get all excited about that sort of thing. One can follow any of the aforementioned responses, and I have tried most of them. But it dawned on me one day, why not not have fun with it? Make stuff up and go with it.

For instance: While wearing my Akubra Federation I was asked where my whip was? I simply replied, "I left it at home today". I have a few safari jackets I wear from time to time and invariably I'm always asked: Are you going hunting or on safari? I simply reply, "Actually I just got back from a trip to South Africa. Had a great time hunting lions and Cape buffalo". As to the fellow on the bicycle, you could have had some fun by simply telling him you were on your way to a movie shoot and were dressing in character for one of the parts. Wearing any type of leather jacket with any type of hat will bring a "hey Indy" comment. There again, one can have some fun with people by simply making stuff up and seeing if you can get them to believe it. Tell them you were on the production team of the last Indy movie and you are wearing props from the movie. They won't know if you're telling the truth or not and you'll be the one having the last laugh.
And yes, I know the stories are in effect lying, so if that bothers your conscience you're better off with another approach. But for me it just makes it more fun to see the "I wonder if that's true" expression on their faces. After all, they were the one's that initiated the conversation.

fedoralover

 

[jlee562]

No disrespect intended to Mr. Hawkins, but I would tend to agree with the "pop psychology" description.

The best strategy is to ignore the rude folks. Why spend any more of your day thinking about it? If you are comfortable in what you wear, that's what matters. Why waste time and mental energy on one other random stranger, which in all likelihood, you will never, ever, come across again?

Of course, I live in a city where I could purposefully put together an awfully, heinously mismatched outfit and STILL not be the strangest looking person on the street. I've gotten Indy comments from just about every hat other than my "Indy Hat," go figure. But whatever. It really doesn't concern me, because most of the time I think their outfit looks ridiculous too.

 

[tonyb]

While I have rarely been subject to the sorts of behavior I read about here -- I can't recall a single instance of being likened to Indiana Jones, for instance, although I've often worn a leather jacket and a tall-crowned brown fedora -- I think that fedoralover has the right approach. Keep in mind what is motivating the rude/boorish/unoriginal/etc. commentary. Sometimes it may indeed be good-natured, if a bit annoying. No big deal, right? We've all suffered fools, just as they've suffered us. And sometimes it may be to provoke a hostile response, in which case getting angry/loud/etc. is just giving them what they want.

 

[John in Covina]

There is a difference between people being playfully engaged and those that are for some reason well- angry or malicious and out to be hurtful when insulting others. So one that is playfully teasing will usually enjoy a fun little response where you poke some fun at yourself like the I left the whip home response fedoralover mentions. Responding with a smile will often be part of a fun day for the playful and be very disarming for those that seek to harm. In the end every situation has to be judged on its own.

Nearly one out of ten people in public has some serious mental health issues and since in the US the ACLU has made it so they can't legally be compelled to take their meds, we all suffer because of it.

 

[HatsEnough]

Nearly one out of ten people in public has some serious mental health issues ....

I don't believe that, either.

 

[John in Covina]

I don't believe that, either.

Come to LA and I'll take you for a tour of the urban areas where the percentage is much higher.

 

[HatsEnough]

Come to LA and I'll take you for a tour of the urban areas where the percentage is much higher.

Now that I can believe!

 

[alanfgag]

Teenage daughters work very well. When I'm with them, no one pays the slightest attention to what I'm wearing.

 

[skyvue]

Nearly one out of ten people in public has some serious mental health issues and since in the US the ACLU has made it so they can't legally be compelled to take their meds, we all suffer because of it.

The ACLU has no such power; perhaps you mean the courts.

 

[RobStC]

Teenage daughters work very well. When I'm with them, no one pays the slightest attention to what I'm wearing.

lollollol

 

[mercuryfelt76]

Yes when I'm with my 12 year old daughter no one says a word and women seem a bit intrigued.

Again I like taking the "roll with it" route and remember I started this thread in the hopes that I'd find something that defuses the situation not exacerbates it (you never know who you're dealing with).

The funny comments are good because they show a lack of hurt or embarrassment and because it gives them reason to see you in a different light. Besides the whole thing can become a joke and you can end up engaged in light hearted banter which not only steals their thunder but deflects the humiliation and you don't come across deflated.

 

[jlee562]

Nearly one out of ten people in public has some serious mental health issues and since in the US the ACLU has made it so they can't legally be compelled to take their meds, we all suffer because of it.

Don't want to stray too far from topic, but that is not the case according to the NIMH:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/statistics/SMI_AASR.shtml <-- shows less than 5% of all Americans have serious mental health issues.

 

[HatsEnough]

Don't want to stray too far from topic, but that is not the case according to the NIMH:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/statistics/SMI_AASR.shtml <-- shows less than 5% of all Americans have serious mental health issues.

That sounds more like reality to me!

 

[John in Covina]

The ACLU has no such power; perhaps you mean the courts.

Somebody has to sue to make sure people have the right to be crazy, that is the ACLU.

 

[jlee562]

Somebody has to sue to make sure people have the right to be crazy, that is the ACLU.

That's not really how the American legal system works. Seeing as how you already incorrectly stated a "fact" earlier, this is not a surprising misunderstanding.

But let's return to hats, shall we?

 

[John in Covina]

No let's return to public mocking.

 

[Salieri]

Somebody has to sue to make sure people have the right to be crazy, that is the ACLU.

Wait, what - hang on. You actually think people should be compelled by law to take behaviour-altering medication if they deviate from a to-down, established conceptualisation of normality? Now, please don't think I'm holding the thread off-topic, because actually lot's of people hold this view but to think that would solve the problems of people who get mocked for wearing a hat? Now that is crazy. More likely hat wearers would end up institutionalised and medicated as well.

Or was this a joke I didn't get?

 

[randooch]

I think that discussing the ACLU qualifies as a political topic, verboten here on the lounge. No?