I originally signed up for INGO to find pistol and carbine matches. Over the years I have had the chance to meet and shoot with a lot of good people from INGO, but trying to meet up with people you have never met before at a match can get awkward. I decided to order an INGO hat and have my user name embroidered on the side of it, and start wearing it to matches.
I finally wore it to my first match recently, and caught some flak over it. I was told is so many words by a person (I had never met him before) at the match that nobody who wears an INGO hat could actually shoot anyway, and instantly took me for some sort of liability. Fortunately I got squadded with this gentleman, and at least one other INGOer as a witness. After smoking this guy on the first stage, he actually complimented me on my shooting. I replied "I think it's the hat!”. He didn't laugh. I continued on to take 1st place overall, all while shooting my compact carry " cheap" Glock.
At the end of the match, I ran into this guy at a restaurant I stopped at on my way home. He didn't actually apologize for his attitude towards INGO hats, but did share some stories to back up his comments. He also complimented me on my performance, and invited me to a match he was shooting in the next weekend. (I took this as his best attempt at "I'm sorry for projecting my preconceived notions onto you", as I could tell he was the kind of guy who would rather take a beating than to apologize). I did go shoot in the match that weekend with him.
In the end, the hat worked to meet people at matches, just not at all the way I thought it would when I ordered it. I'm still going to keep wearing the hat!
I finally wore it to my first match recently, and caught some flak over it. I was told is so many words by a person (I had never met him before) at the match that nobody who wears an INGO hat could actually shoot anyway, and instantly took me for some sort of liability. Fortunately I got squadded with this gentleman, and at least one other INGOer as a witness. After smoking this guy on the first stage, he actually complimented me on my shooting. I replied "I think it's the hat!”. He didn't laugh. I continued on to take 1st place overall, all while shooting my compact carry " cheap" Glock.
At the end of the match, I ran into this guy at a restaurant I stopped at on my way home. He didn't actually apologize for his attitude towards INGO hats, but did share some stories to back up his comments. He also complimented me on my performance, and invited me to a match he was shooting in the next weekend. (I took this as his best attempt at "I'm sorry for projecting my preconceived notions onto you", as I could tell he was the kind of guy who would rather take a beating than to apologize). I did go shoot in the match that weekend with him.
In the end, the hat worked to meet people at matches, just not at all the way I thought it would when I ordered it. I'm still going to keep wearing the hat!
) just carry a lot of butthurt around with them.
