Sad to say...I'm sure that you'll find that a lot of us have had similar experiences with friends...I know that I have. My buddy Bill got all weirded out about the kilt and came up with one of my favorite lame excuses: "...maybe if it was red it would look more like a kilt and less like a skirt." Good one, eh?

And don't think that people in a city are any more liberal minded about it than the folks out by you. They're not.

Best thing that I can suggest is just to do it, do it well and while kilted just act like it's absolutely normal...don't look for attention, when people ask about it don't get into any long winded explainations...just make them accept that it's the norm by acting that way yourself...that seems to work the best for me. Best of luck...I know that it's tough to have someone that you counted on to drop out like that.

Best

AA