I wear hats all the time, and they are almost never ball caps. I follow pretty traditional hat wearing rules: Take it off or tip it when you first meet someone

I wear hats all the time, and they are almost never ball caps. I follow pretty traditional hat wearing rules: Take it off or tip it when you first meet someone. Take it off if you go inside, especially someone's home. If you're in the subway or a hallway of a public building or something it's optional. If in doubt, take it off. If you're worried about your hair being messed up or that the hat is part of your style, you're too vain. Grow up. Note that the rules for women are different. Basically pretend the rule is this: wearing a hat is to protect your head from falling water. If you wear it in someone's home, store or restaurant, you're saying "I'm afraid you have a leaky roof." That would be rude so don't do it.