Do we shoot ourselves in the foot?

**RockyR** · 8th November 04, 06:21 AM

A bit off the topic but..Just checked out your gallery again Phil.. very sharp! That's a Black Watch right? That tartan looks good on just about anybody. You guys are getting me hankering for a Tartan Kilt.. Who's the lucky girl?

**Freelander Sporrano** · 8th November 04, 06:25 AM

I agree with Phil on this one.

I'm a realative newbie and to begin with only wore the kilt to what I deemed "Safe" places and venues. Church, Viking,and medieval markets and the like.

I got all tensed up waiting for the negative remarks. Few if any came. The worst I hear is from my Brother-in-law. He's given up with me now (He still trys with people that don't know me well..It usually backfires on him

)

So I stopped wearing my heart on my sleeve and just got on with it.It's not all about us. people have other things on their minds. We are our own worst enemy with this kind of "Trying to think what others are thinking" .

If a stranger wants to say somthing ...Let 'um say it.They mean nothing to me anyway.

So get out there in a Kilt

Yeah Baby!......... yeah

**Magnus Sporrano** · 8th November 04, 07:29 AM

I am wearing it to work for the first time. They knew I was coming and had posted a watch out in the parking lot. As soon as I came he sent word inside via his cell phone and by the time I got to the door there were several people there waiting. One fellow snapped my picture with his cell phone. Nothing negative was said. One guy asked if I was just trying to push someone's buttons but he was kidding around in a good natured way.

When I got back to my desk I got a "nice skirt" call on the phone but I expected it from this guy who is a ballbuster and we do take jabs at each other so it didn't really bother me. I think a lot of it has to do with who is delivering it and how.

**Rigged** · 8th November 04, 08:13 PM

I hope this isn't going to be the end of your kilt wearing at work.

I can't imagine that a woman would make an issue of a guy wearing a kilt... well, actually I can.

**Magnus Sporrano** · 8th November 04, 08:37 PM

I didn't get anything today that would get me to stop wearing a kilt at work; if anything, I am emboldened to step it up a bit and get some more kilts. In fact, I put down a deposit on kilt #2 with Rocky today.

One of the guys that was giving me the worst attitude about it today wrote me a private email tonight after he got home, put his prejudice aside, and asked me respectfully to tell him more about it. This was a big change from the "cute legs" and "aren't you in the wrong bathroom" comments.

I took him at his word, talked a little about the cultural side of why I wear a kilt, and about the practical side. To try to help him understand the cultural connections a bit, I pointed out that as a black man his cultural connections probably span the African continent just as mine as a white man span the European continent, and there are traditions all over Africa of men wearing unbifurcated garments such as the Great Bubu. This really hit home with him, and emboldened him to consider wearing garments celebrating his African roots to work without concern for the reactions of the small minded. I think it helped that maybe he saw he was being petty with me earlier and I didn't let it get to me at the office.

If nothing else, I've opened the floodgates a bit to make it easier for people to celebrate their various cultural backgrounds and maybe liven up the office a bit. It's really depressing to see people of all different ethnicities all wearing the same bland khaki slacks and polo shirts day in and day out.

**RockyR** · 8th November 04, 09:03 PM

Great Magnus

You might want to show him the normal dress in Fiji for men. According to a Fiji web site, this is also the main clothing they wear to church.. The Sulu.

**RockyR** · 8th November 04, 07:36 AM

And I can bet you held your head up high all the way to your desk.. Way to go.. I will just bet that before the year is out you are going to see at least one other guy kilted there.! This is really great Magnus. BRAVO!

**Magnus Sporrano** · 8th November 04, 07:43 AM

Well the guy that took my picture at the front door and called me to say "nice skirt" is still at it.

He posted the pic online for everyone to see.

http://aaroncarr.multiply.com/journal/item/23

**Rigged** · 8th November 04, 09:55 PM

One day I was driving home and a fellow was walking down the street wearing a white unbifurcated garment that was so striking that I wanted to ask him what it was called and where he got it. It looked like a Saudi Galabyya, but I'd never seen one cut like it before.

I didn't think, "skirt" or "dress", I just thought, "Wow, that's amazing! I wonder what it's called and where I can get one."

If I saw the guy in the above picture someplace in public, I'd ask him what his garment was called. It looks much like a sarong, but I wouldn't make that assumption.

But it seems that most of us Americans are culturally provincial.

I went to college with a young woman who met someone from another country. She didn't know that people from other countries don't speak English. She thought he didn't know how to talk.

**RockyR** · 8th November 04, 07:51 AM

Originally Posted by Magnus Sporrano

Well the guy that took my picture at the front door and called me to say "nice skirt" is still at it.

He posted the pic online for everyone to see.

Nice pic, I was going to respond to his post but the sign up is too extensive so I aint interested in giving all that info.

Just email this to him for me.

Sir,

You're Jealous and will be kilted soon.. :-) You can't resist.... if you only knew how much fun we are having!.. unless your not man enough <BG>