Offended in Houston

[Chef]

People are funny animals, aren't they? Many people expect their own customs/religions/traditions to be accepted by everyone around them (and that's quite a reasonable expectation, I believe), and woe betide anybody who makes even the slightest criticism - they get branded as ignorant, uneducated at best, racist and bigoted at worst! Yet some people, such as the young lady you encountered, seem to think it is OK to let everyone know that she was "disturbed" by, of all things, a bloody article of clothing!

Too true. I have run into that exact thing on the subway. An Hasidic gentleman, in his traditional garb, asked me, "What's with the costume?". I replied that it was a kilt not a costume, probably a slightly surly tone, but that's all I said. He later apologised, remarking that to some what he wears is unusual. But it was that initial reaction to seeing the kilt that got me. If I had made his remark to him, I'm sure I would have received worse than my response to him.

Could she possibly have been trying to make a joke?

A good possibility or maybe she was flirting.