“but you’ll excuse me if I have a difficult time speaking gently to people who think that R’ Chaim Kanievsky is just another yo-yo with whom we can disagree based on our “feelings” of what’s right without ever having opened a Mishna Berura”
Notpashut, I do not mean to disparage your obviously deeply-felt words, but I really cannot imagine anyone thinking that R’ Kanievsky could possibly be described by such words. But I still do not think that it is better to daven by oneself i.e., at home in a hat, than to daven in a minyan without a hat. By the way, do non-married girls also have to wear a head covering when davening? Do they have to show less respect than boys? And for every Mishnah Berura that shows that males should wear a hat, there apparently is a differing OPINION that is also halachically acceptable, or NO frum men would ever walk into a shul without a hat, just as no frum man would walk into a shul or anywhere else without a yarmulke. Just a thought…