It all started with a concept we threw around amongst my college friends during the conceptualization period of our project in electronic media (video class). We thought up a character so twisted who would have the police and investigators in our story completely baffled. This was a serial killer who had an obsession with severed heads and people who owned strange exotic hats. He would often envy a person who owned a unique head dress and offer to buy it. Most often the subject with the hat would concede and happily give the hat with the happy thought of selling the hat for ridiculously more than it was worth.
As the story progressed, the villain would not always get his way. He would encounter a person who did not want to let go of his hat, simply because, it truly was unique and he couldn’t bare to part with it. With the rejection, the killer would say:
Tet, Jane, Conrad
“If you won’t give me the hat, I will take it. And since you made it clear that you have no intention of taking it off your head, I’ll just take the hat and your head along with it.”
He would associate himself with Lewis Carol’s character from Alice In Wonderland-The Mad Hatter. Needless to say, as most grandiose plans end up (especially video projects in the college of fine arts) our story concept never took-off from the planning stage.
On my senior year, I was involved in a group that wanted to present something unique for introducing the parts and history of the Computer. During the time, the Star Wars Trilogy was back in fashion. Every medium was saturated with Star Wars and its facsimile. Merchandise filled the shelves of both hobby shops and toy stores. Storylines in both sitcoms as well as most of the themes for commercials and spoofs on television and cinema were obviously from the said movie causing the mania. We decided to make our own version:
“Lucas and The Lost Computer”—a story of an extremely stupid young man (played by yours truly), looking through an old house which allegedly belonged to his father who had disappeared a long time ago. I decided to make the “grandfather of all hats”—Darth Vader’s outer helmet. The presentation went as well as it could—but I must say, making the helmet was a lasting testimony to my being obsessive-compulsive.
After I graduated from college, I somehow forgot about “The Mad Hatter”. Museo came and went and I eventually found myself at the doors of Royale Homes Marketing Corporation. My officemates would tell me of the time when they would dress up on October 31—Halloween and in the afternoon, they would pull pranks on the people who were passing-through the Royale Homes Floor. They would gather around the elevator, press the up and down buttons and wait for the doors to open. Knowing fully-well that the elevators would have passengers, they would try to scare the passengers of the elevators as they pass our floor.
Apparently, the tradition died shortly before I was hired. So in reaction to that, I decided to create a new tradition. Employees of Royale Homes loved to have fun. However, they did not like the hassle of dressing up—except of course it was for an event that involved celebrities. I decided to create “The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party”. It would always be on the last Friday of October. People would bring or create their own hats and wear that instead of a full costume.
Unfortunately, I had not anticipated that there were a lot more “stuck-up” people where I worked. Bottom line—I was the only one who thought it was worth doing. Oh sure everyone thought it was a lovely idea but no one was compelled to take part in the event. In desperation, I started collecting headdresses. I initially decided on collecting crowns and tiaras but soon enough, I began to realize that I should broaden my scope to include all sorts of head gear. It was a good thing too that I liked making my own hats. There was once a marketing manager’s assembly in Royale Homes where the theme was Thailand. I felt inspired to make a Thai crown. You know? The gold head gear with the sharp pointy thing on top. My collection was truly growing. Sometimes with store-bought things, sometimes with the things I made.
By the next year I had gathered enough hats to accommodate all my friends. People slowly caught on and later tried wearing the hats I brought—finally realizing that it was all in the spirit of fun. And since the initial event did not even materialize, I decided to rename the event to: CRAZY HATS FRIDAY.
And now on its fourth year, Crazy Hats Day continues to be the highlight of my October. Why, even my choir—The Metanoia, has started Crazy Hats day—this time on the last Sunday of October before Halloween.
This year…crazy hats Friday fell exactly on October 31. My friends from my former workplace, PIMS Inc decided to take Crazy Hats Day on the town. We actually sat down to dinner wearing our choice of hats. It was great fun eating and having the rest of the mall gawk at us. After a hearty feast of semi-Hawaiian cuisine, we decided to have coffee and dessert. We paraded from the restaurant in our spectacular apparel and proceeded to Seattle’s Best Coffee. As we came in and lined-up to order, one of my friends, Ms. Tet Plaza was approached by Stephanie, one of the most charming girls I had ever encountered in a long while.
Tet, Conrad, Stephanie
Stephanie was with her family enjoying a night out. She saw Tet and immediately took a liking to her silver mask and tiara. She was so insistent that I decided to lend her another crown. As we placed the crown on her head, she smiled and bounded-off. She later came back and further inquired about the crown Tet was wearing. We then realized that it wasn’t the fact that she also wanted a tiara—she wanted Tet’s tiara. I decided to give her the first gift of Christmas—on Halloween. When she came back, I told her she could have the crown if she promised to be good. She was just so happy. Who knows where the crazy hats party will end up next? Only time will tell.
