"Hey mister, where did you park your horse?" "Hey mister, are you a REAL cowboy?' "Hey, look at the cowboy."

No, I am not a REAL cowboy. I don't even know what a REAL cowboy is and why you would want to be a REAL one. Does the question mean there are UN-real cowboys out there? And if a simple style of hat defines you in a certain profession, does the baseball hat mean all those wearing it are baseball players. 'Hey mister, what was your batting average last year?'

I have been wearing a cowboy hat since I was 12 and I lived in Iowa. That would be Iowa in the mid-west, not the west. It was the simplest and best hat for keeping the sun off my head. No idea in trying to be a REAL cowboy. I was just a kid who did not want his nose to burn and the back of his neck to turn red. That is what a cowboy hat is for and the idea that it is some kind of I.D. tag to define what I am seems stupid.

Now, I am as far west as you can get and yet the stupid comments continue. "Hey mister, where did you park your horse?" I stare at the idiot for a moment, turn and walk on. It does no good to try and explain that before 1980 there were more horses per capita in San Diego County than any county in the United States. It does no good to try and explain that my grandfather had one of the largest ranches in Colorado and was one of the founders of the Denver Catleman's Association befor the great depression took it all. I walk on knowing that another idiot has no idea why a man wears a cowboy hat and to try to explin the cowboy way to "where did you park your horse" is stupid.

It is too bad that hats are no longer in style as before the depression. Perhaps if men wore any style of hat they would know the reason why I wear a cowboy hat. Yes, there is an identification in the hat I wear. But it is not about being a REAL cowboy. It is about a way of life that defines my ability to keep my word, to help a stranger in need, to defend my country and my own. My old cowboy hat reminds me of my grandfather and reminds me to pay respect to my elders. It reminds me to be courteous to women and smile at a child. It reminds me that REAL men can wear a hat and do not have to be a cowboy.