Morning everybody. To start, I belong to a Masonic organization known as the Scottish Rite...which is actually French, the Scottish bit is a bit of myth about its founders. But nonetheless, they like the Scottish theme for decoration and events. There's a group of very active members known as the Knights of St. Andrew who take this up a notch, wearing bonnets, tartan sashes, and sometimes kilts if they're bold enough. Each unit of these gentlemen selects a tartan to identify themselves, for example the new Springfield unit uses the Utah Masonic pattern while our group in Chicago wears the USA Bicentennial pattern. They always wear blue blazers with tartan sashes wrapped over one shoulder, I've only seen one try a kilt on one occasion. However, looking into the history of the regalia following a discussion about my possibly joining this group, I price-checked how much one of these sashes would cost and was surprised to find men's sashes weren't listed. Because apparently, men did not wear sashes? I asked the guys and they said theirs came from Sportkilts...Which now I'm told is a site famous for selling sashes in general quite contrary to tradition. However, every unit of these Knights nationwide wears a sash in their tartan, for better or worse it's their uniform.

Now, it gets worse. My favorite dealer just advertised a killer sale on sashes, both in my family's tartan, and in a very awesome patriotic pattern that's more subdued than the Bicentennial. My main pursuit in my organization is to make rounds every year presenting awards to JROTC cadets for their community service and academic achievements, I was a cadet myself and I love being able to put on a good show for a lucky cadet while they're in the spotlight. I'm usually in a dark suit, sometimes with Masonic accessories on very special occasions, but everyone seems disappointed I'm not in a kilt or sash. While I personally think my kilt would go a bit too far and would rob these wonderful teens of their time in the spotlight, I'm looking at this American-themed sash and wondering how it would look draped over my shoulder as I present an award thanking cadets for their patriotism. No, it's not Scottish tradition, but this group admits we're not Scottish. Would this be a feasible breach of protocol, or would this haunt me like my popped collar phase?