At first you'll be self conscious and hyper-aware of your surroundings, feeling cool, yet apprehensive, wondering who's looking, what they might say, how you should respond. You'll find yourself looking at your reflection in store windows, and any available mirror to see how you look and to surreptitiously monitor anyone looking at you to see their "real" reaction.

Soon you'll evolve to walking along with a somewhat superior smile on your face, perhaps consciously adding a bit of extra swing to your pleats and enjoying the freedom of movement that comes with no cloth enclosing your legs. Knowing that "chicks dig kilts", you will have the radar on sweep, and you will get plenty of opportunities to say "thank you" to the complements that come your way. These will more than compensate for the occasional snicker or outright belly laugh from the ignorant.

After several months of frequent (or daily) wear, your self consciousness will gradually wane and you will find that as those around you become accustomed to your new garment options they will comment less and less and life goes back to relative normalcy, except that you keep having more fun than you ever though you could with a piece of clothing.

And you'll need more...lots more... Kilts, socks, sgians dubh, belts, sporrans, shirts, perhaps formal wear, more kilts. Looking for opportunities to meet up with other kilties and share stories and interests, you'll haunt X-Marks, go to kilt nights, consider 5-hour drives just for a day at the highland games. You may find yourself thinking about kilting as you drive, and blow right past your exit on the highway...more than once. Over time your old friends will start to avoid you because all you talk about is kilting and they've already heard it. You could end up alone, miserably happy behind the dumpster in the alley listening to bagpipe music and rustling around for nearly empty bottles of single malt scotch and day-old haggis. Is this what you want!

STOP NOW! RUN AWAY! FAR AWAY, while you still can! It's not too late. You haven't yet received your first kilt. You can always have Rocky send it to me and chalk up the cost to addiction prevention. Listen to one who failed to heed the warnings, for whom it is too late, my son.

Cheers

turpin