Wannabe Scot

[GlassMan]

Wearing a kilt in Aberdeen screams 'tourist' it's been said

The important thing about the attitude is that it's a response to the perceived touristy nature of kilt-wearing.

Living in another place known for being a magnet for tourists (Washington DC Metro Area) I can tell you that clothing and behavior that is defined as "tourist-like" is frowned upon as well.

For example, most DC natives avoid the Smithsonian museums like the plague. Why? When I've asked people to go with me the response is usually, "But that's what tourists do."

Another example was once I was visiting a friend in Philadelphia. We went to the art museum and there was a guy posing for a picture on the steps ala "Rocky." My friend commented that it was rare for a native to even go to the museum and that they'd never take such a picture. "Only tourists do that." Of course I then forced her to pose for just such a picture!

It's human nature to want to identify with your subgroup (locals) and not be seen as behaving in a way that characterizes the other (tourists). We're social animals and innocent little instances of group differentiation like that are a part of our every day lives.

So I guess what I'm saying is that the desire to not look like a tourist is probably the most understandable explanation for the low incidence of kilt-wearing in Scotland that I've ever heard.

[auld argonian]

Tourist behaviour....as a Native Chicagoan, I am proud to say that I have never been to the top of the Sears Tower. I have not a few friends who are Native New Yorkers who have, similarly, not been to the top of the Empire State Building or to the Statue of Liberty...I guess that nobody wants to look or act like a tourist.

One of my favorite "tourist" moments was in Amsterdam where I was walking along and a car pulled up to the curb next to me and a guy jumped out and started walking toward me...of course I freaked out a little: even in Chicago this is a situation that could have, shall we say, negative implications. Turns out that this guy was a German tourist who started aksing me directions in what I recognized as very broken Dutch while his wife and kids looked on from the car. I had to explain (well, try to explain) that I was, in fact, not a native of Amsterdam but only a poor, ignorant American who was, himself, a tourist and, being a citizen of the United States, spoke no other language than my own (because EVERYONE speaks English, don't they?) and I couldn't help him. Tourist.

Best

AA

[MacMullen]

Tourist behaviour....as a Native Chicagoan, I am proud to say that I have never been to the top of the Sears Tower. I have not a few friends who are Native New Yorkers who have, similarly, not been to the top of the Empire State Building or to the Statue of Liberty...I guess that nobody wants to look or act like a tourist.

I love playing the tour guide for family and friends when they come up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I would not classify bhavior in the same category as visiting landmarks. I love to visit the waterfalls up here in the UP, which is a very touristy thing to do, but they're too good to miss. OTH, when I lived in Colorado, I rarely went up to the mountains because they were always there, and I could go whenever I wanted to. Now, I live 1000 miles away from real mountains, and I wish that I had spent more time up there. That said, I guess that I still haven't been to Da Yooper's Tourist Trap in Ishpeming.

Now, behavior is something else. It's been years since I've eaten a pasty (pronounced Pass-Tee), the traditional UP food, but all my friends have to have a pasty when they come up here, cuz that's what Yoopers do. I do, however, swim in Lake Superior, which is a stereotypical Yooper behavior, but then, it's not one that the tourists like to partake in. :mrgreen:

I'm not a daily kilter, but I do enjoy wearing, whether for special occasions or for daywear. I'd love to visit Scotland and Ireland, and would probably wear a kilt while I was there. I have to look way back in my family tree to find my Scot, but I have always identified with the love of independence and freedom that has been such a big part of Scottish history. To me, the kilt is another little piece that connects me to that.

Before I found this forum, most of my Scottish history came from Braveheart and Rob Roy. :-P But, since going to the Burn's Supper and reading this forum, I've read quite a lot about Burns and by Burns, have learned what happened between the Campbells and the MacDonalds, have learned what Hogmanay is, and a lot of history about kilts.

The same with Ireland. I never knew who Brian Boru was until someone asked about a Brian Boru jacket. Now I know.

Whether you're interested or not, you can't help but pick up some history here, and I, for one, am glad for it.

[Colin]

Tourist behaviour....as a Native Chicagoan, I am proud to say that I have never been to the top of the Sears Tower. I have not a few friends who are Native New Yorkers who have, similarly, not been to the top of the Empire State Building or to the Statue of Liberty...I guess that nobody wants to look or act like a tourist.

(not picking on anyone in particular just using part of the Quote)
The other thing that blows me away about this thread is people's efforts to not look like a tourist. I love being a tourist in my own town!!! How much are you missing out on because you don't want to lower yourself to look like a tourist. Holy elitism Batman! I was not born in B.C., but I have tried to contiue to visit some of the best places it has to offer. Do tourists annoy me, damn right they do, but at the same time it is nice to see people appreciating all my city/province/country has to offer other nation's people. I will never be insulted by being called a tourist. If I am in another place I am a tourist, how can calling me one be insulting? I don't however insullt or expect the culture to fit to me, but rather I do my best to learn local customs and traditions. Heck, I have a Lonely Planet for Vancouver and check it out often. I have been here 12 years and still love finding new places. How else can you show visitors your great home and all it has to offer. After all do you think visiting friends and family really want to just see you favourite restaurants or where you work?

In terms of local people not living up to the ideas set by others, how many "Scots" these days are actually of Scottish roots? I know that certain cultures think that Canadians are native/french and that we live in igloos and get about by dog sled. I am not native or french, I have built an igloo and I have gone for a dog sled. But we live in a very modern city that is really not much different than anyother big city. Scotland is the same way. Immigration, emigration, technology, globalization, etc have all played as big a part in Scotland as anyplace. In my opinion more people today are willing to ignore their heritage simply because they want to be seen as modern and not stuck in the past. They also want to keep up with the Joneses (see some Welsh in there) and that means thinking that Paris Hilton is a cultural icon and Burns is just some old poet.

People won't embrace their history if we all make it out to be a bad thing by projecting outdated ideas and images upon them. They will instead rebel against that ideal.

[MacMullen]

(not picking on anyone in particular just using part of the Quote)
The other thing that blows me away about this thread is people's efforts to not look like a tourist. I love being a tourist in my own town!!! How much are you missing out on because you don't want to lower yourself to look like a tourist. Holy elitism Batman! I was not born in B.C., but I have tried to contiue to visit some of the best places it has to offer. Do tourists annoy me, damn right they do, but at the same time it is nice to see people appreciating all my city/province/country has to offer other nation's people. I will never be insulted by being called a tourist.

There, you said it better than I did. If my area has something breathtaking or historical or educational or fun, why should I avoid it simply because people might think that I'm from out of town?

On the subject of tourist stops vs. reality you have the same thing in the Caribbean, only worse. Get away from the beaches and hotels and you will find that you're suddenly in a third world country after walking just a few blocks from the lights and the tourism money.

[davedove]

I also don't understand not going to certain sites because you don't want to be considered a tourist. Some of those sites you should see because they are exceptional.

Now I do understand not going to the sites while there are a lot of tourists there, because after all, you can see them anytime. Just be careful or you may never see them while waiting for a better time.

The thing with the Smithsonian is also strange. I don't go there very often because it's often crowded and "I can go anytime", but there are some very interesting things to see there. I will admit about the only time I do go is when someone from out of the area comes to visit me and wants to go. I suspect a lot of us are that way; we wouldn't see what's in our own back yard if it weren't for out of town visitors.

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

Colin, great post! I also agree that not visiting local attractions, tourist or not, is denying yourself a great experience! Auld, other than Sears or Hancock, where can you have such a panoramic view of the city and lake? I am from upstate NY, and worked for a company based in Manhattan, and many of those people proclaim thire lack of visiting landmarks like the Empire state building or Statue of Liberty. How is that again? What is anyone rejecting? They are great monuments. Visiting them should be a treat. Now, I can understand not going every day, but when you feel like it or friends/relatives are in town would be a smash!

[cormacmacguardhe]

Just read through a lot of the posts in this thread, and found lots of things I agree with. Where I live is close to a ski area and in the summer we get lots of tourists who come for the hiking trails and other natural scenery. If they would stray off the usual paths they would find some quite seedy areas. Even the nearest town has a problem with "street people" and panhandlers who frequent the downtown area, which the city fathers are trying to "revitalize". I think that you could find similar problems in just about every country in the world. We, people in general, tend to glamorize places we do not live. That is why we travel to different countries to see the sights.

As to Scotland, I have a almost visceral need to travel there and see the places that my grandmother told me about, I also want to travel through the countryside because the pictures I have seen give me the impression that it is a beautiful country. My ancestors came from that part of the world, I want to visit where they walked, see things that they saw. I hope someday to do just that.

Maybe my search for a connection is a grasping for something missing in my life otherwise. I am not going to psychoanalyze myself, and it really does not matter. Anything I can do to reaffrim my Scottish roots and to pass on pride of ancestry to my children, I see as a positive. My wife was denied half of her heritage, mainly because her father was a "fling" her mother had with a gentleman of Mexican ancestry.

A lot of people, especially in the USA take immense pride in their hyphen-American roots. Any way I am beginning to ramble so I will cut this short. I am not a wannbe Scot, I am simply trying to show pride in my ancestry, besides kilts are more comfortable than trousers. And the ladies like them more.

[Graham]

A lot of people, especially in the USA take immense pride in their hyphen-American roots. Any way I am beginning to ramble so I will cut this short. I am not a wannbe Scot, I am simply trying to show pride in my ancestry, besides kilts are more comfortable than trousers. And the ladies like them more.

Nice and simple, which is the way i like things
I think Glassman spoke of the way we are social creatures and most feel at some time a need to belong and identify.

Spiritually, I belong and identify with the God of the Bible (earlier Ron spoke of his spiritual belonging).
Physically, like here on earth, we have liberty to belong and identify as we please, at least in the free world we do.

I think just deciding to wear a kilt is in a way "reinventing" ourselves, taking on a new image and identity, one that is percieved as Scottish, whether we think of it that way or not.

For me, as long as there is harmony between the spiritual and physical identities (and I think there is), then I am both happy and unconcerned what others think or say.

so, to return to the comment that began this all, if some think of me as "wannabe scot", that's fine.
If some think I'm overly romanticising my love of Scotland, so be it (I'm a romantic http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...light=romantic )

In the immortal words of Popeye "I yam wot I yam"

[Ranald]

Just read through a lot of the posts in this thread, and found lots of things I agree with. Where I live is close to a ski area and in the summer we get lots of tourists who come for the hiking trails and other natural scenery. If they would stray off the usual paths they would find some quite seedy areas. Even the nearest town has a problem with "street people" and panhandlers who frequent the downtown area, which the city fathers are trying to "revitalize". I think that you could find similar problems in just about every country in the world. We, people in general, tend to glamorize places we do not live. That is why we travel to different countries to see the sights.

As to Scotland, I have a almost visceral need to travel there and see the places that my grandmother told me about, I also want to travel through the countryside because the pictures I have seen give me the impression that it is a beautiful country. My ancestors came from that part of the world, I want to visit where they walked, see things that they saw. I hope someday to do just that.

Maybe my search for a connection is a grasping for something missing in my life otherwise. I am not going to psychoanalyze myself, and it really does not matter. Anything I can do to reaffrim my Scottish roots and to pass on pride of ancestry to my children, I see as a positive. My wife was denied half of her heritage, mainly because her father was a "fling" her mother had with a gentleman of Mexican ancestry.

A lot of people, especially in the USA take immense pride in their hyphen-American roots. Any way I am beginning to ramble so I will cut this short. I am not a wannbe Scot, I am simply trying to show pride in my ancestry, besides kilts are more comfortable than trousers. And the ladies like them more.

Amen to that couldn't have put it better myself.
I like you have felt something missing, and have decided to find it, yes by actually moving here! This is where I was meant to be born but by some freak coincidence this was not to be.
Your right Scotland is the most beautiful place you've ever seen, actually it's better than the pictures that are around.
I assure you that tourist I'm not, and wearing a kilt is my choice, I do not wear it for notoriety, I didn't chose it as a easy option either,If I had wanted the easy route I would've been in breeks.
It has been said that the wearing of the kilt gives a lesson in human nature, boy your so right !
Oh and this is posted while I sit here eating my porridge oats...I'm serious.
My best.
Richard.