last night was terrible

[Kid Cossack]

Phil:

There's a learning curve to wearing a kilt, or at least there was for me. I was SO nervous when I first wore my UK original. What would people think? Would they notice? Would they think I was cross-dressing? For the first three or four months (and I was kilted almost the whole time), I had a chip on my shoulder. At the very least, I was ready to put a chip on my shoulder.

The other day I took my daughter to school. It was "meet the teachers" day and so there were kids and parents running around all over the place. I was wearing my SWK weathered Lamont wool, a collarless dress shirt, a 3" oxblood kilt belt from Simply Rugged in Alaska, Thor-Lo black boot socks scrunched down, and brown Doc Marten's shoes. It took me a minute to snap when a little girl asked me why I was dressed funny.

Now, down here in Houston, we've got our share of rednecks, Hispanics, African-Americans, Vietnamese, Pakistanis, what have you. Wearing a kilt pretty much full time for almost two years, I've had THREE NEGATIVE ENCOUNTERS.

Going into the store one day, a guy driving by rolled down his window and called "Hey dude you're wearing your wife's clothes!" at me. I just stopped and asked him if he'd thought of that himself, because it was the funniest thing I'd ever heard. He drove off.

One day at a Pizza Hut where I was grabbing a quick lunch, two guys came in wearing gimme caps, and said something audible about cross dressing. I looked at them and replied that if they didn't have sense enough to take their hats off indoors, they shouldn't be giving fashion advice.

One day at a Home Depot, a huge black guy made a crack about how I was dressed. His girlfriend lit into him. "Dave you oughtta have the legs or the guts or the confidence that this guy has. He looks fine and he's not hurting anyone, so hush up." Funny thing is, I ended up talking to Dave for about fifteen minutes about kilts, and how nice it is to be kilted, and where to look around (I reccomended SWK for a good quick kilt intro, fast service, decent kilt and a nice way to get his feet wet, so to speak).

The people who get their dander up about kilts, in my experience, are small people. They're insecure. I'm not going to say they should wear a kilt----it's not for everyone. But it's right for me. With calm-eyed confidence, I can explain why I wear it. I'm not aggressive, I'm not pushy, but I don't back down. It's THEIR problem, not mine.

I don't listen to much rap, but there's a line I really like from an old NWA song. "It's crazy to see people be what society wants them to be----but not me."

Keep at it, bro, things will get better.

[Panache]

If you wear a kilt you make a choice to stand out from the crowd. You must learn to enjoy the compliments of the admirers and suffer the insults of fools with equal temper. These men were not worth the effort to educate. You walked on and ignored them. I'm reminded of my favorite Sting song:

"If, manners maketh man as someone said
Then he's the hero of the day
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say"


Cheers

[pdcorlis]

Only you can decide how long you're going to give these guys free rent in your head.

[pbpersson]

Just know that they probably found trouble sometime after they encountered you and that they now know what handcuffs and a cold jail cell feel like. If they allready didn't know that feeling?

Well....as they were zooming down the road I noticed the tail lights were not working on their car and I quietly said, "I hope you get pulled over and get a ticket, it would serve you right!"

[Blu (Ontario)]

... Phil, most likely they were jealous! ...

I tend to agree, although I'm not sure jeasousy is the emotion at work, but they were obviously affected by it.

One must keep in mind that, within any group such as that, there will be an alpha male setting the agenda. The others are just following the lead. This whole incident is about "pecking order"... within their group and outside it. Because you were alone, you were an easy target.

Perhaps one of these days a stint of basic traing may help these boys to shed their adolescent attitudes.

[Brasilikilt]

IF they see a man in a kilt and the first thing they think is a skirt and women's clothing, then obviously they all have some issues with their fathers.

I have always been the "weird" or "different" one who was constantly tormented throughout my years in school. Needless to say, I developed a pretty thick skin after loosing enough fights.
I do admit that I have a bit of hostility built up regarding these kinds of people, and in my head I dream of severely bludgeoning them with my Blackthorn stick.
After I think on it for about 10 seconds, I should actually feel sorry for these sheep who are too cowardly to do anything but be like everyone else, to fit in and not create any waves.
Just be like everyone else and you don't have to think about it. Go with the flow and nobody will think you're weird.

To wear a kilt, it takes BALLS! And while these neanderthal types are too primitive in their thinking to realize this, they are jealous. Not of the kilt so much, but of the BALLS and sense of individuality it takes to wear one.

[pbpersson]

I'm reminded of my favorite Sting song:

"If, manners maketh man as someone said
Then he's the hero of the day
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say"


Cheers

Off topic.....I really like Sting and I should get a "Sting's Greatest Hits" CD for myself. What song is that?

Back on topic - did you know that he wore a black kilt to the Grammy awards and the media was giving him grief about it? "What was he wearing....a skirt???"

[pbpersson]

Phil:

Going into the store one day, a guy driving by rolled down his window and called "Hey dude you're wearing your wife's clothes!" at me. I just stopped and asked him if he'd thought of that himself, because it was the funniest thing I'd ever heard. He drove off.

One day at a Pizza Hut where I was grabbing a quick lunch, two guys came in wearing gimme caps, and said something audible about cross dressing. I looked at them and replied that if they didn't have sense enough to take their hats off indoors, they shouldn't be giving fashion advice.

You know what? You're good! I just cannot shrug things off as well. I'm too sensitive and I care too much about what others think. Perhaps kilts will help me grow out of this.

[Raphael]

I truely believe that there is a population of people who have never seen or heard of the kilt before. If they don't see anything on TV regularly, they are not going to know it. Just because we are in the know, that doesn't mean the world feel the same about the kilt.

Besides, society pays too much attention on what we wear and don't like people who dress their own way. If you don't conform to the current fashion choices, you must be strange and unusual.

Phil, don't worry about it too much.

[Bill]

I used to know folks like that in grade school too bad some never seem to get past that stage of life. One day (one can only hope) we'll learn to appreciate the unique qualities of being individuals and celebrate them rather than trying to press everyone into the same mold.

Bill