Youth is wasted on the young.

Lorne said:

If you see me at North Station, walk up and say hello.

I don't bite adults, often.

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I'll remember that.
don't know if it was you or not, but about 3-4 years ago I was waiting for a train to Rockport returning from a meeting in Boston (my wife has family on the North Shore). I was wearing
a fedora of some sort, as was a gentleman roughly my age. We didn't speak, just nodded at each other as if to say " Oh there's another real hat wearer out here".

Edward said:

“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”

Socrates, 469-399BC. Now that's vintage thinking! lol

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That's quite the vintage indeed!
I too strongly disagree with the "all kids today are awful" nonsense. Such an attitude generally comes from those who fall in the...elder flatulence category who due to increased age have forgotten their own youth. I tend to not trust someone who claims to not have whooped it up a bit as a youngster.

For every annoying young person I will show you two adults who should know better..

Feraud said:

For every annoying young person I will show you two adults who should know better..

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Ain't that the truth! Any idiotic comments I've had about my hats on the street haved almost all come from folks over the age of thirty (Tyler was right!!). On the flipside, the vast majority of sincere compliments have been from hip hop kids in their middle teens.

As frustrated as I get with modern youth, I work with many of those just past graduation, and even serve as educator for them from time to time, and have to say that as mentioned above in small groups of individually they seem more manageable than the generation between them and myself (the currently late 20's or early 30's crowd). The key there seems to be a better openess to individuality. This indeed includes fashion and specifically my hats, whether it is my fedora of the day or even when I opt for my forage cap with my uniform (now sadly a discouraged option for daily wear). From them I receive inquisitive but not disrespectful comments more often than not.

The key to the issue I encounter is often one of example. The youth of today have ample options to see how to get things wrong. It leaves it to the rest of us to present the world we hope to live in and provide the examples of how to go about our daily activities preserving the customs of an earlier era.

Who remembers one of The Kinks hit of the sixties Dedicated Follower of Fashion? It really is a succinct appraisal of the youth of that day:
"One week he's in polka-dots, the next week he is in stripes. Cause he's a dedicated follower of fashion."

One of the rudest moments that I can remember, is coming out of a pub, with a friend that I had known from school, we each had a dolly-bird, as we called arm candy back then. Said girls would be giggling, hanging onto the arm of their fella, probably comparing notes. I hailed a cab, it pulled up, and as we dashed from the pub to the taxi, an elderly woman got in the way. Not knowing which way to go, she froze.

To my eternal shame I said, probably to impress the girls, "Doddering old fogey!" "You'll be old," she screached. "Yeah, but not as old as you." And we all laughed as we tumbled into the taxi.

We certainly dressed well in the 1960's, perhaps a tad over the top with flamboyance, but we could also wear a smart, conservative suit. However, we were just as intoxicated with our youth as many youngsters are today. Treating that older lady with such disrespect still haunts me occasionally. It never occurred to me that she probably endured all the bombing that Hitler could throw at London, or that she probably could only afford the bus because of her concessionary bus pass. A taxi to her was off her financial radar.

You were right when you quoted Oscar Wilde: "Youth is wasted on the young."

Well-said Worf!

Lorne, I have had people react very similar to my hat wearing, main difference is I'm 24 and their around 50ish. That being said, most peoples reactions are very positive from all generations.

Lorne said:

I yell back, “unfortunate.”

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Vulgar swine, that'll learn 'em!

I'm not saying the young man's comment wasn't positive, in the same way three lefts make a right...