I got this new hat for Christmas from Jonathan and Calico.  It’s really cute, colorful, very warm and when I’m wearing it I forget sometimes it attracts attention.

I used to wear hats all the time with my long, wool winter coat.  A felted Fedora, cloche or beanie I had them all and depending on my mood I’d toss one on my head and off to work I’d go.  I felt hip and fun in my stylish hats.   Wherever I went I’d always be on the lookout for another cool hat to add to my wardrobe.

One day I stumbled across the coolest hat.  It was a deep red, velvet and had a wide brim folded up with a very large, yellow, faux Gerbera Daisy planted right in front.  I knew immediately I had to have it!  It was me after all  – fun and cool – so there was no way I was going to leave without purchasing it!

Now most of the hats I’d worn to this point were classic and understated, stylish but unobtrusive.  If someone glanced in my direction, the hat would be duly noted as fashionable, conservative and perfectly acceptable in Downtown Albany where I work.  Week after week I’d worn my hats and after a while I began to feel comfortable and natural with them on my head, but this new hat was another thing altogether.  Red and loud with a bright colored flower right in front it said “Look at ME!”  I loved the hat but the message was not one I was comfortable conveying.

Nonetheless, I loved the hat, it was fun and I’d purchased it to wear it.  It was amazing really because this new hat made people smile and inspired conversations with perfect strangers.  The message it seemed to convey was “I am approachable and nice, talk to me.” After a while I began to feel comfortable and natural in my red hat with the big flower in front.  I smiled more and felt lighter.

For weeks I wore my red hat with the yellow flower and with the Downtown debut so successful I thought nothing of it as I tossed it on my head and headed to our local Agway one Saturday afternoon.  It had become a part of me by then and I felt fun and cool with my red hat on my head.

After the short drive to Agway we pulled into a parking spot right in front of the store and as I stepped out of the car some mean-spirited teenager yelled out from his speeding car window, “Nice HAT…. ASSHOLE!”

I was shattered and no longer felt fun and cool.  Where was the nice conversation and sweet smiles?  In a moment things changed… I was no longer cool and fun, I was an asshole.   I was devastated and my hat no longer made me smile and feel light.  Out of pure pride I kept the thing on my head but once home my red hat was tossed into the closet and forgotten.

And then this Christmas I got another hat that just might be a little risky to wear.  But the thing is I’ve gotten older and realize that some people will think I’m an “asshole” and it doesn’t matter because the people that really matter will smile and strike up a conversation because they can clearly see that I am fun and cool.

I wear the new that that Jonathan and Calico gave me with pride these days and already I’ve had a trucker wave and a passerby smile.  I just know they both wanted to pull over for a chat!  I think it’s time to dig through my closest, find my red hat with the big flower and remind the world that I am fun and cool and just might be an asshole.  ☺

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 21st, 2012 at 6:45 pm and is filed under Day-to-Day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.