What is a Hat?

A hat can be the difference between life and death for a soldier.
A rancher's wide-brimmed felt often provides the only shade he will have for many days
A fisherman's yellow oilskin hat gives him snug comfort in the midst of bitter salt billows.
Yet hats offer far more than shelter alone.

A hat, when tipped politely, tells a pretty girl you like the way she looks.
Held over the heart when the flag goes by, a hat is the badge of patriotism and a strong belief in freedom.

The right hat can make a golfer feel lucky.
Celebrities often wear hats to be noticed.
Plainclothes policeman wear hats to go unnoticed.
A salesman's hat can be his office.

There are hats with built-in radios;
hard hats,
soft hats,
fur hats,
paper hats,
all useful in different ways to different people.

Hats have won a deserved place in the day-to-day speech of all the world.
Secrets are figuratively kept under hats.
Politicians throw them into the ring.
Voters bet them on elections.
People promise, if wrong, to eat them.
Cocked hats are what schemes get knocked into.

Most important of all, a hat is worn in the mind as well as on the head.
When a man is seen in a hat, the whole world knows he has invested some special effort and expense in his
appearance.

He has set himself apart from the lazy,
the careless,
and the irresponsible.

He is a man with a purpose....
and purpose is the making of a man.