Positive Re-enforcement

[MrLion]

Wore the kilt to a "Men's Night Out" at church Saturday evening. Received lots of compliments. I think I was the most comfortably dressed at the barbeque!
Only questions I got were about "you must be Scottish, then?"

[xman]

Up and out for a birthday dinner a little while back when I passed by a shop window in the neighbourhood where a female store attendant was visibly excited by my kilt. She didn't even try to hide it when I caught sight of her.

[Bog Trotter]

I wore my Black Watch kilt to a friends birthday dinner at Bob Evan's restaurant on Sunday, two weeks ago. As I was standing to wait for a table, I noticed a gentleman glancing at my direction as he was walking past. Just as he was passing, he walked into a wall! It was so difficult to keep from laughing. The gentleman was more embarrassed than hurt, and to his credit he came up and complimented me on my kilt. Of course he asked if I was a bagpiper. I informed him that I was not, and he told me how he always wanted to be a piper. Another example of Power To The Kilt!

[LANCER1562]

Monday night I had gone to a whiskey tasting,I was wearing my SWK Black Stewart, as I was walking to the parking garage to get my car I was passed by two twenty-something lasses. One of whom said "hey, sexy!" If the garage wasn't going to be closing in a few minutes, I would have asked them to join me for a celebratory drink. GO GIANTS!

[gary meakin]

I was in Texas on business for the first week of April. Of course we all know that April 6th is National Tartan Day. The banquet at the end of my week long seminar gave me the opportunity to wear the kilt. This was a banquet with 100 other people whom I had just met a week ago and had not gotten to know very well at all. (A propensity for making friends quickly is not one of my best attributes.) But I am a proud Scottish American, so I donned my Highland Regalia, left my hotel room, got in the elevator, and waited to see what would happen.

The elevator finally made it to the lobby. The doors opened. I was greeted with silence and wide-eyed, open-mouthed stares.

After the shock apparently wore off, my new “friends” started to approach me with their comments and observations. Rudy tried to say “if it’s nae Scottish it’s crap” in his best Scottish burr but he sounded more like the Lucky Charms leprechaun than William Wallace. Roseanne Gilchrist told me her husband was Scottish. I explained the connection between the MacLachlans and the Gilchrists and we joked about being related. Sean asked if he could have his picture taken with me because he had never seen anyone in a kilt before who wasn’t in a parade. Rob told he was a MacLaren. He was very curious to know how to go about tracing his ancestry. He is also a military history buff, so we spent a good deal of time discussing some famous battles. Dr. Riggs, one of our instructors for the week, told me of his Buchanan lineage. Roger (100% Italian descent) couldn’t find any Scottish link but did manage to tell me about his vacation to Scotland. Our Guest Speaker even interrupted his speech to compliment me on my kilt.

Because I was kilted, everyone who spoke to me tried to find a link to something Scottish
And when that link was found, it made them feel special.
A gift I know I don’t have when not kilted. But when kilted…

[lethearen]

Great story, gpmeakin!

[lethearen]

Last night, Dewar's was in town and made a big to-do of a whisky tasting. So of course I went kilted We got there a little early; whilst waiting the Dewar's "ambassador", Gabe, saw me and broke away from his prep-work to applaud the attire, saying he wished more men would wear such clothing.

Throughout the reception, all the already-polite hostesses gave me an extra wide smile, as well as a few under the breath comments like "fabulous!". One lovely lass actually complimented my jacket (lovat green argyll) and made no mention of the kilt. She confessed she was from Scotland, but has been in Texas for the past twenty years. Considering she looked barely old enough to drink, that sadly meant she had no whisper of Scots on her tongue, though

During the presentation, the ambassador started talking about what people think of when they think of Scotland. When 'kilts' were mentioned, he asked me to come to the front of the congregation to demonstrate how a kilt "properly worn" should look And then proceded to ask me the question in front of a hundred people!!!

Afterwards, my mates and I were loitering outside the venue, and I was approached by a few gentlemen guests who just beamed and shook my hand before walking off. All in all, a nice evening for positive re-enforcement!

[DesertCeltic]

I agree with the majority of commenters and I have had far more positive comments than negative ones. I wear a kilt everyday (I have ten) and recently got a MacLaren from SWK so that I could even be kilted at Cub Scout events. I can think of two funny exchanges recently.

1. A cook at one of the local Indian casino buffets asked if I was Irish or Norwegian! I replied that I am of Scottish and Irish decent ( also German) and he asked me to prove it. I said a phrase from Rosetta Stones Irish training software " Ta an calin eg ol". He tells his buddy that I am a real Irishman.

2. A couple young ladies gush over my purple (Heritage of Scotland) kilt in front of two teenage boys. The boys had been conversing and smiling before the girls spoke up, but were speechless afterwards.

[McFarkus]

Yesterday I went with a group of friends to a Spanish-speaking congregation wearing my Black Watch kilt. No one said anything before the Eucharist, but there were a lot of goggle-eyes, smiles and giggles. Afterward one man got up the courage to ask me about the kilt and about my heritage (as a congregation of immigrants, they are very sensitive to cultural issues). I talked a bit about the kilt and my Scots forebears during which time a large crowd gathered to listen. During the meal following the service, there was no shortage of people wanting to talk with me.