I have always worn hats... to finish a "look" or to cover a bad haircut or simply to keep my head warm.
It should be fairly old news that a change of head gear can bring a change of attitude, and that change of attitude can bring a change in circumstance.
Once... years ago while I was employed by a certain Jingle writer in NYC a hat was suggested to cover what he perceived as an "political" hairstyle (dreadlocks), I know it seems totally preposterous in the present day with everyone and their mother sporting locks be they Black, White, Asian, doctor, lawyer or politician.
The guy I was then took exception to the idea that in an industry that was supposed to be "creative" that such restraints should be placed on my personal freedom, even then I knew that freedom or the perception of it corresponds directly to creativity, of course now I know that there are very few creative people in what would be seen as creative trades, most people are looking to create a "factory" more akin to all the types of factories you have ever seen making biscuits, cogs, spark plugs... music... whatever, with the one important difference being that they would run the factory... so the real motivation is ... POWER.
We all rationalise the need for this power as our dysfunctions dictate but make no mistake we all crave it.
The trick is to keep a check on our desire for personal power and in my former employers case to keep a check on ourselves if we should ever attain a small measure of power that may enable us to shape the destinies of others, because the truth is the first thing we rationalise away.
So are my hats a metaphor for my regret at the realization that my friend and mentor may have never been neither, or a reminder that I know that statement is truth!
FYI: the only contact we have had in the long years between then and now have been few and instigated by me even though our lives have had many parallel experiences, the most notable being the almost simultaneous births of our children.
