Why do they always wanna try your hat on?

[akaBruno]

Why do they always wanna try your hat on?

And how do you politely tell people... HANDS OFF MY DAMN HAT!

They usually have grubby grimey paws that haven't been washed all day...

And they're 9 times outa 10 givin ya crap about wearing a hat.

grrrr... I'm ready to start swingin.

BRUNO

 

[Feraud]

Tell them you have head lice.

 

[jimmy the lid]

I just had this happen last evening. Was at an outdoor gathering and suddenly felt my straw hat being lifted from my head. I issued a polite but firm instruction that nipped the behavior in the bud. What a completely disrespectful violation of personal space! It would never occur to me to do this to another person -- why it seems acceptable to others is beyond me. Oddly enough, I think that, quite often, the people who do this are merely being playful -- they just don't realize that, in another day and age, this behavior would have them "toes up in Tucson..."

Cheers,
JtL

 

[Jerekson]

To tell you the truth, this has always been something that baffled me.

Probably more than a hundred times during my life, one of my buddies, or even a complete stranger, walks up to me and thrusts his hand at my head, grabbing the hat by the pinch and simply pummelling it onto his own head.

Annoying? Yes.

Destructive? Yes.

Avoidable? For the most part, no. The more you tell someone that you don't want them messing with your hat - the more they seem to want it.

Then there's the other option; for a period I would take to ducking and swinging my head around whenever someone so much as lifted a finger to my hat, bringing myself out of harm's way. Of course, that usually results in a few "freak" comments, revolving around the "I wasn't going to do anything, sheesh" lines.

So now, I'm considered crazy because I didn't want you screwing up my $150 custom-made hat? Okay. Thanks for the reality check.

Once, a freind of mine comes up and grabs my hat by the pinch, etc. etc...

So I told him, "Next time, why don't you grab it by the brim - like this?" I took the hat off his head, by the brim (and giving myself an excuse to reclaim my hat). "Then that way, the crown will stay nice."
He then tells me, "You know, those dents were made in the first place, so that you could grab it like that."
He says this as if I'm stupid and I don't know what I'm talking about.
Sheesh.

 

[Feng_Li]

I would simply say "excuse me," and take my hat back.

 

[WideBrimm]

Probably for the same reason that kids want to try on another kid's eyeglasses. Different. Mysterious.
But then, does anyone ever ask to try on someone else's shoes? Don't think so. Must be Eau de Foot

 

[akaBruno]

Probably for the same reason that kids want to try on another kid's eyeglasses. Different. Mysterious.
But then, does anyone ever ask to try on someone else's shoes? Don't think so. Must be Eau de Foot

You're giving me ideas about possibly trying some ladies pants on. fftopic:

 

[Diamondback]

Having an undercurrent of "Keep your hands off me if you wanna keep 'em" in your attitude (but without saying it) should help, if my experience is any indication. Won't exactly make you any friends, but at least your hat'll be safe...

That is what counts here, right?

 

[Delthayre]

Hat Self-Defense League

That sort of behavior would astound me. I've never experienced anything like that asides from once or twice from close friends, whom I will forgive such behavior.

Too many people seem to want for a real sense of propriety.

 

[rockyj]

I like it when the womendo it

Well, the little kids too! However, I really don't see people trying on other people's baseball caps

 

[thunderw21]

Had it happen before. A college kid takes my "pimp hat" (OR style nonetheless) from my desk and tries it on. I promptly asked that he return it.

Another time at church I was holding the hat pictured below in my hands when the older gentleman I was talking to (who should have known better) playfully starts punching the top of the hat down, quite hard I might add. I quickly move it out of his reach but said nothing. The crown was completely collasped but thankfully it popped right back into shape with no damage. :eusa_doh:

Why are people drawn to these things? Why try them on or, of all things, punch them? Does personal space, respect and property mean anything nowdays? I think people become jealous of our hats, whether consciously or not. They see how well they look on us and perhaps feel inadequate beside us. As a result they must make themselves feel better by trying them on without permission. The 'touchability' of a soft-looking high quality beaver felt hat doesn't help either.

Then again, I don't mind ladies stealing my hats and trying them on, just as long as they treat them well. It could quite possibly show some sort of interest...

Billy

 

[doggieboy]

Why are people drawn to these things? Why try them on or, of all things, punch them? Does personal space, respect and property mean anything nowdays? I think people become jealous of our hats, whether consciously or not. They see how well they look on us and perhaps feel inadequate beside us. As a result they must make themselves feel better by trying them on without permission. The 'touchability' of a soft-looking high quality beaver felt hat doesn't help either.

Billy

They are drawn to them because they are great! They should be drawn to them...we are. We think of them as a personal article of clothing. IMHO they see it as an accessory or a prop. I agree that its rude to grab a hat, I'm not sure how I would react, but I think that's the mindset.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

I'm thinking if anyone asks me in the future, I think I'll say something like, "Sure, lemme try on your shirt. Come on...right now..." Gee, taking off your shirt in public seems a little annoying and weird? Wow - now you understand! Put the ball back in their court in terms they should understand. It's my hat to fit me and it's part of the clothing I'm wearing at the time.

I did have one of our friends ask awhile back and I answered, all in fun, "It wouldn't fit - your head's much smaller. I need a larger hat to fit my larger head because of the massive brain it houses. But I can give you some websites to check out if you want."

 

[MA&PA 40's]

A womans perspective

I just wandered across this thread, and while I'm not a man and not many women take each others hats off (atleast none have done that to me), I couldn't help but notice the similarities of your issue to one of womens' greatest laments, being pregnant and having every friend and stranger you meet rub your belly! Same mystery, same solution-there isn't one No doubt, we've been dealing with this since the dawn of the ages, and we haven't figured out a viable solution yet. I would suppose that same as with us, your hat is a novelty, it makes you stand out in a crowd, and it either makes them curious, a little nervous or a little jealous, they aren't quite sure what to do with you, so they just reach out and touch it. Or like the older gentleman mentioned in an earlier post, maybe it reminds them of an earlier time or something they once experienced and they feel a connection to it, so they assume that gives them the right to be a little more friendly then you might like. Anyway, good luck to you and until the time that people learn their manners, may you be given the grace to just "grin and bear it"

 

[Hondo]

Your keeping wrong company, I would throw up an arm block, no one touches the hat period!!!
Good response Mike in Seattle, "It wouldn't fit..." :eusa_clap

 

[Davidson]

If I see someone reaching for my hat, I reach for it first. If they get it, I hold out my hand. In either case, I say "Let me tell you a little about this hat..." I have a small-talk story for each hat - how I got it, who made it, what type of hat it is...

I'm thinking about buying several cheap fabric tape measures with in and cm and cutting them to 30" to tuck one behind the sweat of each hat. Then, after the little story, I could ask if they know their hat size. If not, I could offer to measure for them, and encourage them to think about trying a hat for themselves, now that they know their size.

I learned a long time ago, you can't make people behave. And there's no point in getting riled up about it. You can only control how *you* act.

 

[AdmiralTofu]

People wanting to try on my hats, I have no problem with. In fact, I encourage it. I figure anything that gets people more interested in hats is a good thing. I've had the pleasure of telling several people at work that they look better in my hats than I do! (Honest-to-goodness truth, too -- they do! )

What I can't stand is what's been covered here already. Don't grab my hat without permission. Certainly don't yank it right off my head. And if I ask for it back, for the love of Pete, don't make me feel like an idiot for being protective of it, and then refuse to hand it over. :eusa_doh: Just gimme the lid and everything will be okay.