Thread: 3 Deep Breaths....

Because a man removes his cap indoors, and certainly while seated for dinner. My Father would NEVER put up with that nonsense.

Originally Posted by Bruno

I can see how people blathering on via Bluetooth would be annoying. But why would you care whether they wore their caps at the table or not?

It is/was considered good manners to remove your headgear in North America while eating. Maybe a carry over from the military where it is/was severely frowned upon.

Bob

The power of being polite, but firm. Only in an actual restaurant do I expect headgear removed. Not your typical greasy spoon or take away.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by MikeB52

The power of being polite, but firm. Only in an actual restaurant do I expect headgear removed. Not your typical greasy spoon or take away. Cheers.

Actually in the "old" days any time you were eating no matter the type of establishment you took your lid off. Inside a church was another example. Women were exempt in those circumstances. People today make no distinction between greasy spoon/take away and an actual restaurant so they tend to wear them in restaurants also. Times change so you go with the flow.

Bob

Yeah, I get it, back in the days...

But then, back in the days, many things were frowned upon, many of which are ok today. Way back, visible tattoos were frowned upon too. Not going to church on sunday. An American friend of mine told me that his grandmother was shocked that there were black people in the same seating area for the local minor league baseball game (it was her first game in many decades). Back in the day, a man would order for the woman. Real men would smoke. Interracial couples were a disgrace. Etc.

Culture changes continuously, and people have to change with it. I fully expect that by the time I hit 80, things are not done the same as when I was 20.

The thing is: wearing caps or not does not interfere with YOU or your lunch experience.
You have no business telling people what to wear or how to behave as long as they are not a nuisance.
You might as well scold them for not wearing a tie.

Ego civis Romanus sum

This simple statement was enough to protect a citizen of Rome from molestation or harm when abroad. It carried with it the promise that any harm visited upon the speaker would be visited upon the perpetrator by the full force of the Roman Empire. In time this practice declined . . . and so did the Empire.

The point is this . . . not all "change" is for the better. If it was, we would all be using Schick Hydros, or Trac-Balls to shave. Our electronic devices have (in general) made this a coarser and less civil society far more than their connectivity has improved things.

So if hanging onto a few simple notions about "proper behaviour" is considered old-fashioned, then guilty as charged.

Originally Posted by BobH

Actually in the "old" days any time you were eating no matter the type of establishment you took your lid off. Inside a church was another example. Women were exempt in those circumstances. People today make no distinction between greasy spoon/take away and an actual restaurant so they tend to wear them in restaurants also. Times change so you go with the flow.

Bob

I will "go with the flow" in so far as a Burger King or McDonald's is concerned. Any male wearing a hat of any kind in a restaurant, even a flipping Denny's, is ill-mannered.

Yes sir, the times are a changing even back then and still are.

Bob

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqvUz0HrNKY

Since you're already debating the hat indoors and while eating issue, I'll leave it to all y'all as we say in NC. However, there is an outdoor bar here at the beach whose manager goes up to everyone with a ball cap on backwards and tells them to turn it straight forward or leave. I sort of like that.

I wouldn't classify a ball cap as a proper hat especially worn backwards, sideways, over one ear or whatever. Getting to old time.

Bob