Bonnets on or off?

[BoldHighlander]

Church, or a sit-down restaurant, or any other place where one would expect to be clean and well-groomed and 'proper', one would of course want to remove his hat. But to state that all indoor places without exception (MoR even underlined it to drive home the point!) must be places where a hat is removed, just doesn't jibe with real life.

And on that note, many sit-down restaurants (at least out here) don't offer a place to put ones broad brimmed cowboy hats anymore. Sometimes one can place it in an empty chair at your table. However I have more than once seen a group of buckaroos (as we call them out here), with no place to place their hats, leave them on while dining (I myself have faced this same dilemma).

Yet, in any other circumstance they conduct themselves as "gentleman". Does this one act exclude them otherwise?

I'd be the last to tell them so

[Zardoz]

Maybe some of you live the kind of lifestyle where you never get dirty or sweaty, or you never have occasion to be anywhere that you're not dressed like perfect gentlemen, freshly groomed. If so, I envy you. But out here in the real world, for those of us who don't have the luxury of living such carefree lifestyles, there are going to be occasions where one finds himself indoors but doesn't think it's best to remove his hat. Because, quite frankly, it's not that important. Heck, the people who work at the hardware store wear hats themselves... indoors! Rubes and oafs, all of them!

Church, or a sit-down restaurant, or any other place where one would expect to be clean and well-groomed and 'proper', one would of course want to remove his hat. But to state that all indoor places without exception (MoR even underlined it to drive home the point!) must be places where a hat is removed, just doesn't jibe with real life.

Surely there's a reasonable middle ground here. Either that, or it's impossible to be a "gentleman" without having servants do everything for you, where you're free to remain pristine all the time.

But according to MoR, I'm a rube and an oaf, so I guess my opinion doesn't matter.

When the self-styled gentry look down from the county club on the working class, you need to remove you hat!

[macwilkin]

When the self-styled gentry look down from the county club on the working class, you need to remove you hat!

Yes, we all know the "reverse snobs" are the real elite, demanding tolerance of everyone!

T.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I find it interesting that a number of responses have made excuses for having bad manners (my hair is messy, etc.) and no one has found it necessary to make excuses for having good manners.

Guys, unless there is an over-riding religious consideration, a gentleman always removes his hat indoors, even if dining at the local Cracker Barrel.

Leaving one's hat on-- regardless of the excuse-- marks one out as a rube, an oaf, and one who is ignorant of even the most basic social courtesies.

So put that in your hat, and wear it.

[Detroitpete]

I find it interesting that a number of responses have made excuses for having bad manners (my hair is messy, etc.) and no one has found it necessary to make excuses for having good manners.

Guys, unless there is an over-riding religious consideration, a gentleman always removes his hat indoors, even if dining at the local Cracker Barrel.

Leaving one's hat on-- regardless of the excuse-- marks one out as a rube, an oaf, and one who is ignorant of even the most basic social courtesies.

So put that in your hat, and wear it.

I learned to behave in this manner as well. Only time in which I deviated from it was in the military when mustering indoors and ordered to be covered. I'm still a "no hat indoors" guy, no matter the circumstance.

[McFarkus]

I agree that gentlemen should not wear their hats indoors, particularly in church. There was a time when they did NOT uncover at meals, but that was because lice might drop on the plate.

When I was a child, men NEVER wore hats in church, but in the narthex at the back of the church was a pile of lace doilies that ladies who had forgotten their hats were asked to put on. Ladies ALWAYS covered their heads in church.

[EagleJCS]

I would think that, since the feed store, hardware store and post office, etc., are public buildings - with large common areas - it would be perfectly acceptable to leave one's lid in place while running errands in those places. It's if/when you go into the manager's office (or a similar less-common or non-public area) in one of those places that one would remove one's headgear. Similarly, as has been mentioned before, it's acceptable to keep one's headgear on in other building's (think downtown high-rises, bus/train stations, etc.) common areas (large open places). It's when one enters the elevator or a particular place of business within the building that one would remove one's hat.

For the OP, unless I'm playing my pipes while walking into the church (hasn't happened yet, but it could), I would remove my headgear. If I am playing, I would remove my headgear as soon as I could.

[Bugbear]

For some reason, I look at all this from a different point of view.

How should I treat someone who is wearing a hat indoors?

Should I be rude to that person?
Should I verbally her *** that person for wearing the hat?
Should I snatch the persons hat off of his head?
Should I request to a manager or owner that the person wearing the hat be thrown out of the establishment?
Should I just ignore it?

[Jock Scot]

Well, I for one take a very dim view of people(males) who enter my home wearing headwear and I make a point of asking, politely, for the offending attire to be removed from the head. Thankfully a rare event, but no one has yet refused.

On the subject of removing one's(male) headwear and I don't know if it is common place, but removing one's headwear whilst in a graveyard is very much a custom here.

[Paul Henry]

...snip....
On the subject of removing one's(male) headwear and I don't know if it is common place, but removing one's headwear whilst in a graveyard is very much a custom here.

That was very common with my parents when I was growing up, and something I still follow...