Man with Hat

Man with Hat, originally uploaded by gurdonark.

I remember a story about an insurance executive who had been in the business, someone said, since the days when men had to wear hats. This expression, "since the days when men had to wear hats", was used in the context in which the observer spoke as a metaphor to describe a time when men were expected to strictly adhere to rules of business attire.

I've always been fond of hats, although I've never been very good at the rules of strict business attire. I do not wear a hat in business, though, as it would seem out of place rather than more appopriate.
A man's hat, at least in good weather, is more of a frivolous accessory than compliance with any dress code.

On Saturday I threw a flying ring with a friend. The flying ring had a head-shaped hole in it by design. On a whim, I popped the ring on, like a hat. I walked in a purple halo.

I do not believe there is anything particularly angelic in a hat, but a hat offers a man a kind of protection from modernity, in the same way that mistaken people believe that aluminum foil foils errant cosmic transmissions from the horseshoe nebulae. I wonder if the term "heart-felt" may refer, obliquely, to the core protection a felt business hat provides the wearer.