I've been to Cracker Barrel kilted on many occasions ... and I get more 'shocked and bewildered' looks there than anywhere else. Cracker Barrel has always catered to the 'road trip' crowd, offering good ole home cookin' and a gift store that just about guarantees you'll find something Grandma will appreciate. Shoot, they've even got dedicated RV parking at every location, always right off a major highway. With antiques hanging from all the walls and ceilings it just breathes Old Americana ... no wonder a man is Scottish garb gets a long, long look.

It is fun, though, to go to Cracker Barrel because once that long and awkward moment passes the spirit of Southern Hospitality just takes hold of everybody and you find yourself answering the most sincere questions you've ever heard. Sometimes what looks like a mean look is only an intense 'taking in' of something different, unexpected and new. In a place frequented more often by the old than the young this phenomenon can be even more pronounced. After all, Cracker Barrel presents itself as a place where you will be surrounded by the sites, sounds and smells of your Grandfolks' house ... a place of profound familiarity though far from home. No wonder a man in a kilt, a grandly unfamiliar site to many, gets such an 'interesting' reception there.

It's trips to places like Cracker Barrel that sometimes leads me to hope that the kilt never becomes so common as to not be startlingly noticable there. At least for me the uniqueness of kilting is a big part of the joy of kilting. The chance to answer honest and sincere questions from genuine people is something that I'll really miss should kilts become so common as to not illicit such. I'm off work tomorrow, I think I'll put on my Utilikilt Workman and mozey on down to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast. When I walk in I'll stop at the door and let everyone get that long, intense look they really want to get, I'll flash a smile, say g'mornin' and make some new friends.

Kilt On.

Chris Webb