The Red Hat Society - Belonging

[KellyScott]

I just wanted to share some of my Red Hat pictures.
This was the opening of the beaches parade at Jacksonville Beach Florida. My Husband pulled the float with "Frances" our Purple 1956 GMC pickup truck.


Click here for all the pictures

Kelly

[Doreen Peri]

Ha!! That's great! Thanks for sharing, Kelly!

Welcome to the Studio!

Great shots! What fun!!!

Which one is you?

[KellyScott]

Hi Doreen
I'm in the middle of this picture with the Hawaiian shirt.



Kelly

[Doreen Peri]

Cool! Nice to meet you, lovely red hat lady!

Just curious.. how'd you find us? Glad you did!

I met a lady playing online Scrabble who was in the Red Hat group and she told me about it. I'd never heard of it!

So, it got me thinking about "belonging." I think belonging to SOMETHING is important for people. We all want to feel like we belong. Why is that? It's human nature, probably.

To some people, it's more important than to others, most likely, but I think it's important to everyone on some level.

Other than having fun (of course), what does it give you? What positive feelings do you get from belonging to this group? Just curious.

And to all .... Do you belong to any groups, clubs or organizations?

I'm a member of the AAA. heh Oh and I have a "Graphics Professional" credit card. I belong to Studio Eight and several other discussion boards on the net. To me, these are like communities because we all get to know each other and it's a good feeling to belong. I'd rather belong than run the show though. Who wants to take over for me? lol

[KellyScott]

Just curious.. how'd you find us? Google search

What positive feelings do you get from belonging to this group? Well it's a little early to tell. This is only my 3rd post.

Do you belong to any groups, clubs or organizations?
Yes. A couple of Yoga groups, My neighborhood Bunko group (12 women)
I am a volunteer at Hospice and work with patents and children. I also volunteer for the American Cancer Society. I am a realtor so I belong to realtor groups. And My husband and I belong to a Cadillac Allante Club that is really a Social Club.

ABOUT KELLY

[Doreen Peri]

Kelly, I meant what positive feelings do you get from belonging to the Red Hat Society? What does "belonging" to that group do for you?

Looks like you belong to quite a few groups! That's very cool! I do some work for realtors sometimes (graphics stuff). I greatly admire anyone who volunteers for hospice. The hospice people helped to take care of my Dad before he died. Angels. Each and every one of them.

Thanks for the About Kelly link! Good to meet you!

[stilltrucking]

Thanks for the pictures of the beautiful truck.
The first thing I ever read about your society was in Pickles, one of my favorite comic strips.

TAKING A CUE FROM “PICKLES”
Sometime ago the comic strip called “Pickles” featured a series of Red
Hat Society situations, when Opal (the wife) joined our disorganization.

You may recall that Earl, her husband, got a lot of fun out of making
good-natured fun of Opal and her chapterettes. He told Opal that he
would begin wearing oddball outfits himself, featuring plaids and
stripes, every time Opal put on her red hat regalia.

This gave Queen Mum Sally Kley a fun idea for the first anniversary party
of her chapter (the Racy Red Hats, Oro Valley, Arizona). She held a
potluck at her house and invited her chapterettes and (just this one
time, I’m sure) their husbands. The women wore their best regalia and
all of the husbands donned plaids and stripes. Sally even went so far as
to email Brian Crane, the author of “Pickles” and invite Earl to the
party. Brian replied that Earl couldn’t make it, but he would send a
drawing of him for the party. She hung the drawing up “…so Earl made his
appearance right at the buffet line in the kitchen!”

http://www.wildwildernesswomen.com/

[hester_prynne]

Okay okay, red hats sure yeah, whatever.
There you are in your red hats and since there are 10 people in their 50's or older wearing them it means something.

It means that though you are old you still exist and you want to shout that out to the world!

I EXIST! SEE ME!!!! SEE MY RED HAT? SEE ALL THE OLD BAGS IN RED HATS? WE MEAN SOMETHING DAMMIT!

Let me tell you a secret red hatties. The world doesnt' give a fuck.

But red hat retailers do!
so go ahead.....
Strut yere old in a red hat.
a hunka hunka burnin red hat love!


Me? I prefer to strut my old in the same thing I've been wearing for years...jeans and tie dye t-shirt with a hint of patchouli.......


H

[KellyScott]

Okay okay, red hats sure yeah, whatever.
There you are in your red hats and since there are 10 people in their 50's or older wearing them it means something.

It means that though you are old you still exist and you want to shout that out to the world!

I EXIST! SEE ME!!!! SEE MY RED HAT? SEE ALL THE OLD BAGS IN RED HATS? WE MEAN SOMETHING DAMMIT!

Let me tell you a secret red hatties. The world doesnt' give a fuck.

But red hat retailers do!
so go ahead.....
Strut yere old in a red hat.
a hunka hunka burnin red hat love!


Me? I prefer to strut my old in the same thing I've been wearing for years...jeans and tie dye t-shirt with a hint of patchouli.......


H

Well if you want to go around in your jeans and tie dye t-shirt thats fine. One of the nice things about getting older is you don't care what other people think. The hint here is not the red hats but if you look at the picture look at the smiles..... WE! ...WE as a group are having fun being togeather. Most of these women have lost their husbands and their children don't see them much. SO.. they have a choise .. stay at home and remember the past... Or get off your ass and go out and have some fun. I'm having fun in my life and If I look like a dam fool ...I don't care...

The fool in the red hat

[whimsicaldeb]

Hester, I find your comments to Kelly, angry,hurtful and cruel. Just because you don't approve of her lifestyle and choices does not give you the right to address Kelly in the manner that you did.

~~~

One of the nice things about getting older is you don't care what other people think. The hint here is not the red hats but if you look at the picture look at the smiles..... WE! ...WE as a group are having fun being together. Most of these women have lost their husbands and their children don't see them much. SO.. they have a choise .. stay at home and remember the past... Or get off your ass and go out and have some fun. I'm having fun in my life and If I look like a dam fool ...I don't care...

Kelly, first I need to apologize to you myself... I read Hester comments yesterday and felt they were way out of line, but I didn't speak up at that time - and that was a mistake. I'm sorry I didn't speak out sooner.

I had looked at your photos before this, and loved them ... as you say, everyone is smiling and having a grand time. After seeing them I wondered if maybe I should also get a red and hat and join with all you ladies as I also love people, and to have fun and be crazy as well. Personally, I'm glad you shared them ... I enjoyed looking at them.

[stilltrucking]

WD:


Kelly

I was going to say something to hester but I thought you handled it pretty good. Maybe my favorite picture is the first one. The woman standing by the fire truck with the bikini T shirt.

Have fun,

Listen to Hester Sing.



Lover Man
http://studioeight.tv/musicpost/theda/loverman.mp3

Bye Bye Black Bird

http://studioeight.tv/musicpost/theda/b ... ckbird.mp3

It Had To Be You

http://studioeight.tv/musicpost/theda/ithadtobeyou.mp3

Don’t Get Around Much

http://studioeight.tv/musicpost/theda/d ... ndmuch.mp3




http://www.studioeight.tv/musicpost/the ... ckbird.mp3


http://studioeight.tv/phpbb/viewtopic.p ... 3a7cd38e30

[whimsicaldeb]

Confused Sad
WD:
What are you doing?
--ST

Speaking my mind.

Hester has a wonderful voice, and sings beautifully - but that doesn't give her the right to bad mouth others just because her personal preferences are different then theirs, Kelly's. Hester words and actions towards Kelly and the red hats in this posting were harsh and cruel... not beautiful and melodious like the songs you listed below.

[Doreen Peri]

Deb - I've known hest for about 5 years now... or 6? Anyway, I understand your reaction because sometimes her words can seem harsh but really I truly believe she has a very wry sense of humor and she was just playing around. I can't speak for her, of course, but knowing her heart and her values and also her style of quips and humor, I'd really say she was just probably sitting there laughing making humor of "old bitties" and calling herself one, too, expressing her decision to do whatever she wants, wear whatever she wants, and say whatever she wants, just like the red hat gals. That's just my take on it.

I'm all for everyone speaking their mind and I think it's an honorable thing for you to come to Kelly's defense but I also think that sometimes it's easy to not catch humor in the wording. All we have is text in this medium. That's the tough part. I read between the lines all the time and then I have to try to catch myself and say to myself, "maybe he or she didn't mean it the way I was taking it."

Words are a powerful thing. True enough. And I truly think we all should be careful with our phrasing and maybe hest should have added "just kidding" or "funning with ya" or something along those lines along with the rolling-her-eyes smiley face she posted.

Anyway, I LOVE ya all!

Deb, you're a beautiful lady with a very tender heart! Thank you!

(I'm not jumping in on this thread as a so-called "administrator" only as a friend and another old bitty who sometimes likes to speak my mind and wants everybody to love each other. ((((hugs)))))

[Doreen Peri]

ps, deb... check yer pm messages

[whimsicaldeb]

... I truly believe she (Hester) has a very wry sense of humor and she was just playing around. I can't speak for her, of course, but knowing her heart and her values and also her style of quips and humor, I'd really say she was just probably sitting there laughing making humor of "old bitties" and calling herself one, too -- Doreen

Well ...making humor of... can also mean: poking fun (at), making fun (of), and it's something we all do at times. And sometimes, it offends.

... I also think that sometimes it's easy to not catch humor in the wording.- Doreen

And sometimes some jokes just aren't funny. And sometimes the words can be so pointed as to overshadow the humor. And sometimes the humor can be hidden so well that's it's almost impossible to see. And sometimes it can be the wrong joke for the wrong crowd at the wrong time.

If Hester's comment was meant to be humorous, then I missed it.

Here's the thing ...

"Yo, bitch!" would be one example that has a limited playing audience that I can come up with. With this in mind, I have to explain that it's unacceptable to call any woman a 'ho' a 'bitch' or 'an old bag' or 'an old bitty' .... and while I understand that others do call themselves that as a joke from time to time (and I'm no exception) ... there is a difference between me calling myself those things and me saying them about someone else.

I love Hester too, but her reply took me aback, I felt it was caustic towards Kelly and the reds hats and they didn't deserve that.

All we have is text in this medium. That's the tough part. I read between the lines all the time and then I have to try to catch myself and say to myself, "maybe he or she didn't mean it the way I was taking it." - Doreen

Okay, this is an old arguement -- and it worked well when message boards were new, but now it doesn't fly because people aren't new to this medium any longer.

Reading and writing between the lines does nothing more than create guessing games. Games where it as easy to guess incorrectly as it is to be guessing correctly; games where you can guess correctly and still be told you're guessing wrong and they didn’t mean it that way at all if they should change thier minds after the fact; and games where they could be telling you they really didn't mean it that way at all and be telling the truth but it's not so hard to see because the truth is hidden too deeply "between the lines."

All of which can be cleared up and/or not created in the first place with clearer, direct writing with nothing left "between the lines" to get all muddled up. Because as you say ... this is a tough medium, and all of us using this medium know better by now.

Deb, you're a beautiful lady with a very tender heart! Thank you! - Doreen

Thank you, Doreen. That's how I see you as well.

I'm not jumping in on this thread as a so-called "administrator" only as a friend and another old bitty who sometimes likes to speak my mind and wants everybody to love each other. ((((hugs))))) -- Doreen

{{{Hugs}}} back at ya, with you ~ and thank you, they feel great.

And I love Hester too. My speaking out of what I think and why, to me, isn't a showing a lack of love or caring, but more of a showing that I do (care). If this were Eric or Calvin saying this to Kelly ~ I'd be on their asses too. If I didn't care, I wouldn't bother.

Speaking of everyone loving each other ...
Heck, I even love ST [believe that or not!] but not all his aliases - and that should be very well known by now as I've said that plainly often enough.

I also found I loved Kelly and the red hats as well, and when I think someone's dis'n um ... well, what you see is what you get.