Removing your hat indoors

[lefty]

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lefty

 

[wootx]

Etiquette wants you to remove your hat indoors -- no matter how stupid or outdated they sound, there are certain social norms we have decided to abide by that make us seem like polite, gentle people.

You are free to act any way you want. So are others.

But what if I used the water glass to drink wine?

 

[cretaceous_cretin]

Originally Posted by Sazerac

If you don't take off your hat indoors, the effect of dressing well is ruined. You need the manners that go with the look, and therein lies the difference between a gentleman and a douche.
+1. Years ago I wore a hat in doors and was roundly criticized for it as having lived too long in Texas.

 

[pvrhye]

Depends on if it's a public or private space really.

 

[ShoesYouCanUse]

Removing the hat is proper etiquette in which communicates that you are a gentleman of quality. Wearing a hat indoors screams that you have no class, you know nothing about fashion or you are trying to make a fashion statement saying, look at me look at me.

 

[N. McKay]

I normally take mine off indoors, with exceptions like the common areas of public buildings and shopping malls.

Originally Posted by caxt

Something I find interesting is how many here who consider wearing a hat indoors to be bad etiquette, feel perfectly at ease asking others to remove their hats - a far more serious breach in my understanding.

Agreed.

I sometimes joke that half of the reason for wearing a hat is to be able to take it off at the right times. You can communicate a lot about what kind of person you are by the way you interact with others, and your hat is just another of the many ways to do this. Hat etiquette is not universally practised, and I may well live long enough to see the last hat-remover give up on the whole thing, but in 2011 in North America there remains a part of the population that understands that taking your hat off when, e.g., you come into someone's house, is polite and you do it just for the sake of being polite. It's the same as saying "thank you" when someone gives you something. It serves no practical purposes but it does show your civility and lubricate the interaction.

There are people who leave their hats on because they just don't know about this, but there are also some people who intentionally leave theirs on out of a desire to flout what they see as an obsolete convention. I was like that when I was a teenager, but I'm glad to have grown up since then.

If someone were to wear his hat in my house I wouldn't react other than to offer to take it for him (once), because anything more would be a cure worse than the disease. Would I invite him back? Maybe; his manners would be only one of the things that would lead me to that decision.

 

[RSS]

It depends on the indoors. If we are talking a lobby, perhaps not. If we are talking an office space, a restaurant, a store, etc., then yes.

 

[CouttsClient]

Originally Posted by cptjeff

I would ask you why the **** you cared. Can't give a good answer? Then it stays on. And no, "becuase it's polite" is not a good answer. If you're going to insist on some stupid action, then provide a reason. Until then, **** off. If you come to my house and I ask that you remove your shirt, would you think that was an appropriate thing for me to ask? What makes a hat so different from any other garment?



And he was right to. You were being an asshole. Mind your own business.

Also, the "inerrant word of God" says that men should cover their heads at all times. If you put stock in such things, you probably should have been following his lead.




In real life I'm generally a very nice and polite person where it matters. One can follow all sorts of stupid rules and be an asshole. In fact, I've come to suspect that those who slavishly follow old rules without thinking about them are predisposed to being or becoming such.

As for farting, I don't bother. It's a natural bodily function that can't be helped, and I don't feel the need to apologize for it. I do offer an excuse me for a burp, becuase they can be loud and disruptive to a conversation.


Basically, it boils down to substance over form. In the realm of manners, slavish adherence to rules does not make you a nice or polite person. Same as in the world of dressing, where slavish adherence to rules does not make you stylish.
Wow.

You would be run out of town in these parts...

 

[CouttsClient]

Originally Posted by Mr. White

A guest in my home is free to behave as he pleases. However, I might not invite him to return if he abuses my good will.

A hat carries dust, dirt, and filth on its brim. A hat accumulates sweat and stink on its lining. Removing a hat, coat, scarf, gloves, and galoshes helps keep the home and office clean.

I do offer to take guests' coats and hats as they enter. When a guest wanders on in without removing outerwear, I wait a minute then offer again. I'd hate to think that I kept my home uncomfortably cold for a guest. That'd be inhospitable. There is a reciprocal duty here.
Yes. Absolutely how I feel.

 

[pvrhye]

Originally Posted by N. McKay

with exceptions like the common areas of public buildings and shopping malls.

That says it a little better than I did. If it's the kind of place I'm likely to wear a coat in the winter, I'm likely to wear a hat there too.

Men's hats used to be all together more frequently worn and filthier objects, so they took em off even while ladies kept theirs on (often literally pinned to their heads).

 

[pfurey]

The comments about how "filthy" a hat is is hilarious.

The average iPhone contains thousands of times more bacteria than any hat does. Do all guests in your home need to check their phones at the door? Where do you draw the line?

It's a hat. Do with it what you please. If you get offended because something is on my head, I'll most likely offend you within 5 minutes of conversation anyway.

 

[lefty]

Oy vey.

You come to my house at 5:00 in the morning because we going fishing I'm not going to ask you to remove your cap as we're grabbing gear. You come to my house for dinner or drinks and sit down at my table either the hat comes off or you eat somewhere else. Of course, if you're a young kid and don't that you should remove your hat at a table, then it's no harm no foul, once you do.

You wear a hat during the national anthem, it should be knocked off by the closest man.

lefty

 

[Parker]

What about these places?

Train car
Taxi
Airport
Museum
Large indoor/outdoor space like a tradeshow or expo

 

[lefty]

All "outdoor" though you should take off your hat when seated on a train and speaking with someone.

Lobbies, malls, public elevators (unless a woman enters) foyers of offices; it's not that hard. If you think you should remove your hat in the situation or the person you're speaking with deserves respect, then take your hat off.

How ******* hard is it to take off your hat?

lefty

 

[mordecai]

I saw Leonard Cohen perform a couple of years ago. He wore a hat except when one of his musicians or singers had a solo, for which he'd doff the hat and face them. He removed his hat when addressing the audience as well. It was classy.