Kilted (and insulted) at the opera

[rollerboy_1979]

When I am dressed in my kilt, I consider myself dressed as a gentleman, and a gentleman I will be. Expecting a cretinous person to accept my garb is akin to casting pearls before swine. She realized she insulted me when I told her that I do not consider my clothing "funny". The way I see it, she was saved by the bell (in this case the chimes) for I'm sure I would have had other choice words to put her in her place. Her ignorance was overshadowed by the dozens of smiles and nods of approval. I'm going to wear my kilt to every performance because I know she was in the minority. I hope to attend some evening events so I can dress in my formal PC and bowtie. Tomorrow's St. Andrews Dinner will provide the salve for the wound. int:
Cheers!
RB

[James MacMillan]

When I am dressed in my kilt, I consider myself dressed as a gentleman, and a gentleman I will be.

Now, that's the right attitude!

[Rex_Tremende]

...At this point, she turns to her friend and says, "Let's wear something "funny" next time".
Me: "I hardly consider this "funny" madam"

Now here I might have been inclined to look her up and down and say, "Madam, what do you mean 'next time?'"

Regards,
Rex.

[Riverkilt]

There are no doubt enough House of Gordon cousins on this forum alone to assemble a quarum and vote you an honorary membership into the clan...but doubt that would have impressed her.

I still prefer the common two word response to an insult - said calmly and politely. And when they stammer back, "Why do you say that?" The response is, "Because that is the proper response to an insult."

Glad you didn't let her get you down...touching story in all other regards.

Ron

[DireStraitsFan]

You're a good man rollerboy. Keep on keepin' on.

[OFCJAX]

"Fake, huh? <looking at their chests> Like those are real."

[Archangel]

to paraphrase Billy: never take an eedjit with you, you can always find one when you get there.

[rollerboy_1979]

"Fake, huh? <looking at their chests> Like those are real."

That would have been a great comeback because in LA plastic surgeons are only outnumbered by attorneys (no disrespect intended towards either profession). This was a perfect example of the old adage "Less is More". In hindsight, it was none of her business that I wasn't a Scot. I'm not ashamed of or embarassed by my Italian ancestry, but why offer information that would invite such an insult? It's like The Question........why answer and spoil the mystique? If someone wants to believe I'm a Scot because of my kilt, why not let them? From now on, when I'm dressed in that manner, I'm a Scot and will just leave it at that. The only thing "fake" that day was the "class" that woman supposedly had because she was at the opera. My ancestors, the Romans, invaded Scotland centuries ago, so I may even be more Scot than I realize. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!
Cheers!
RB

[Streetcar]

With strangers, I've found that it is often not worth the while to give an unexpected, albeit truthful, answer.
I recently came back from a whisky tasting (or nosing as some have corrected me). I stopped to fill up at a gas station on the way home. The attendant looked at my kilt and said, "You must be visiting from Scotland!" Rather than launch into a story about my ancestry, the fact that I only lived a couple miles away, and why I happened to be kilted, it was just so much easier to say, "Aye," and pay for my gas.

If they really want to know, they'll ask further. Otherwise, they're only asking to impress their friends, and who cares what a random stranger thinks?

Still I think you handled it well. Remember that the uneducated speak without thinking. It enables the rest of us to quickly recognize them as idiots.

[Rex_Tremende]

Remember that the uneducated speak without thinking. It enables the rest of us to quickly recognize them as idiots.

My sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Milton, put it this way (about a certain dolt in the classroom who had no verbal restraint): "Empty wagons make more noise."

Regards,
Rex.