The man in the hat

You know how once you notice something, you keep seeing it? Like when my brother bought a Prius and, all of a sudden, I saw them everywhere. Well, it was like that with the men in hats. My girlfriend pointed out a man wearing an old-fashioned hat, standing on a bridge and, after that, it seemed that wherever I went, there would be a man in a hat watching me. I started to get a bit paranoid. I was in a street and I saw three of them. I freaked out a bit and ducked into the nearest shop. It turned out to be a hat shop and, on an impulse, I bought one. When I came out, wearing my new hat, the men had gone.

And I haven't seen a man wearing a hat since that day.