Kilted amongst the uneducated...

[RamsayClanCommish]

Saturday night, I was at the 40th birthday party for a friend of mine and had already decided when invited to go kilted. The honoree asked me herself to wear it as she thought it was smashing.

Let me just say that if the term redneck offends you, then read no further. Because my little corner of Oregon is full of the stereotypical lot of mouth-breathing, knuckle draggers whose idea of dressing up is to make sure they wear their cleanest ballcap and Wrangler jeanbs with no Copenhaqen ring in the back pocket.

Immediately I was stared at...no big deal. But I did grow tired of "the queston". Also, one drunk just came up behind me and lifted the kilt with both hands and screaming,. "Sorry but I have too! The girls want to know what your wearing underneath!" I had to bat him away. I suppose i have to allow for such ignorance...but the lack of respect shown by people anymore is appalling.

Samples of my evening with some of my answers:

"Why are you wearing a dress?" It's a kilt.
"So why are you wearing a kilt?" Why aren't YOU wearing one?
"You don't look Irish." What do Irishmen look like?
"You Scotch?" No...I am not a beverage.
"You wearing panties under that skirt?" No. You wearing panties under your pants?
"Why do you got a knife in your pantyhose?" Helps me when I keep getting asked stupid questions.
"It's not Burns night. Why you in your costume?" It's not a costume. It's a kilt. It's my heritage. I'll wear it when I please.
"Aren't you scared someone will think you are queer?" Nope. Are you?
"Did you come from a wedding? Don't you only wear those at weddings?" Hardly. A kilt can be worn all the time.
"This dress some sort of joke or something?" You see me laughing?

Like I said. I expect some teasing. Bu the complete lack of respect and the general feeling that if a man is in a kilt he is open to all sorts of verbal abuse gets my goat.

Almost makes me happy I lost my job when the plant closed and I will no doubt be forced to move to a town where people have some upbringing.

End of rant.


Though, the guest of honor was genuinely happy that I wore it for her and that I would be willing to put up with the flack. And I did get a few more reasonable questions from people wanting to know about Scottish history and the traditions in general.

[Cynthia]

I'm so sorry you had to put up with that nonsense (especially the lifting of the kilt -- you know how I feel about anyone touching the kilt in that manner... what is WRONG with people??). It sounds like you did your best to brush aside the idiotic questions. I'm glad you had more serious conversations and were able to wear your kilt for the woman who asked. I'm sure she was very glad you did that for her.

[McFarkus]

Sorry you had that experience. Hope things go well with your job seach!

[Colonel MacNeal]

I do take some offense at the term Redneck when used as a pejorative, as I object to all other ethnic slurs. I consider myself somewhat of a cr@cker, but am not far from a Redneck in its original meaning (Scotish Protestant). I don't like the term "white tr@sh" either because it assumes the white "non tr@sh" are superior to all the other races. Why don't you just use terms that define the caliber of the person such as "buffoon" or "cretin."

[Monkey@Arms]

Yikes. That's a lot for one evening. Glad I've never had to put up with a fraction of that cr@p.

Best regards,

Jake

[xena]

I do take some offense at the term Redneck when used as a pejorative, as I object to all other ethnic slurs. I consider myself somewhat of a cr@cker, but am not far from a Redneck in its original meaning (Scotish Protestant). I don't like the term "white tr@sh" either because it assumes the white "non tr@sh" are superior to all the other races. Why don't you just use terms that define the caliber of the person such as "buffoon" or "cretin."

Well, according to the definition of the term, "cretin" is a word that would carry far more potential for offense - the pathological definition being "A person who fails to develop mentally and physically due to a congenital deficiency of thyroid hormones", and the perjorative having the meaning of "idiot" - which in itself has it's roots in Greek indicating someone who just wasn't interested in politics. A buffoon is someone who, either intentionally or inadvertently acts like a clown, and professional clowns might take offense at being likened to these folks.

My point is, you can find offense in any term if you look for it. So, why look for it?

[ali8780]

I'm sorry you had to deal with that, I'm really shocked that people can be so intrusive, were some of these people sober?

[puckhead9]

I too have had my share of comments and I am sure everyone has. I personally answer with the briefest of answers. Enough to shut them up but not enough to really answer the question. There should be some mystery. Some folks can be downright rude. Keep wearing the kilt, don't let the creatins get 'ya down!!

[Nighthawk]

Those kinds of people seem more and more prevalent. This is why my dream house is a yurt in the mountains. On the other hand, there is hope. There is a guy I work with who approached me to tell me that because of my example, he has started reading. He told me that he took an online reading test and was upset to find out that he reads on a 4th grade level! He took the test because he was tired of asking me to explain the words that I use, which actually made me feel a bit bad. I don’t mean to belittle. I just happen to be that guy with three books in the works at any given time, so my vocabulary is rather large by nature, I suppose. Anyway, the point is that there is hope for the uneducated. Jose gave me back just a little of my faith in humanity.

[Bugbear]

Those kinds of people seem more and more prevalent. This is why my dream house is a yurt in the mountains. On the other hand, there is hope. There is a guy I work with who approached me to tell me that because of my example, he has started reading. He told me that he took an online reading test and was upset to find out that he reads on a 4th grade level! He took the test because he was tired of asking me to explain the words that I use, which actually made me feel a bit bad. I don’t mean to belittle. I just happen to be that guy with three books in the works at any given time, so my vocabulary is rather large by nature, I suppose. Anyway, the point is that there is hope for the uneducated. Jose gave me back just a little of my faith in humanity.

Good job, Hawk, good job.