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WHY DO YOU TAKE OFF A HAT INDOORS?

Jun 10, 2015 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

I was taking a friend’s son to the son of another friend’s birthday party. As we entered the house where the party was being held, I noticed that the boy still had on his cap. I politely suggested that he take it off as he entered the house. He gave me a rude look and strutted off.
I caught up with him and this time more firmly told him that he should take off his cap. He bluntly refused and asked why he should do so. I said to him, “Don’t you know that when you go indoors you should take off your headwear?”
“I did not know that. When was that rule made up? he asked.
“How can you say that you do not know that you are supposed to take off your cap or hat when you enter indoors?” I queried. I presumed he was just trying to be difficult, but when I looked around I noticed that quite a few children in the room had on their caps. In fact, quite a few adults were doing the same.
That suggested to me that there are quite a few persons in Guyana who do not know or care to know about hat etiquette. These little things that older folks take for granted are now coming under scrutiny. Persons are questioning why certain things are done. So why exactly is someone required to take off their headwear when they go into someone else’s home or office?
Well, for one if you are outdoors, especially during the day, your head is going to perspire a great deal. The hat will therefore most likely have a little dampness inside. It will also be a little smelly. Taking off your hat or cap avoids you the embarrassment of someone having to get a whiff of that smell. If you live in a cold country, your hat is likely to be wet when it is snowing. You certainly do not wish to be wearing a wet hat or cap indoors. It is uncomfortable, therefore, in certain climates to be wearing a cap indoors.
Of course in those very climates it is unhealthy to be going without headwear when you are outdoors. Hats do have purposes, but those are for outdoors. You do not need a hat indoors, do you?
Taking your hat off when going indoors is an appropriate way to greet another person. This is how it was done back in the days of old. It is a convention that has been passed down. It is no different from shaking someone’s hand when meeting them or giving him a friendly hug. When you take off your headwear while meeting someone indoors it is saying to them, “I greet you. I respect you.”
If you keep your hat on you are saying the very opposite.
Taking off your hat when you enter a building is also a sign of manners. It is considered ill-mannered to not do this. And because of this there are lots of ill-mannered persons in Guyana; ill-mannered not by choice, but because they do not know the rule about hats.
In the old days, folks used to be attached to their hats. If you lost your hat you grieved. I remember this story about a boy and his grandmother. One day they were walking along the beach when a huge wave came and swept the boy away. The grandmother was terrified, but just then another wave came and dropped the boy right back on the shore.
The grandmother took one look at him and then angrily shouted to the receding wave, “When he came, he had a hat.”

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