[Long Post] Tracking Comments Last Week

[Riverkilt]

Ya know David, that is one thing that dissappointed me a little. The theme of the conference was culture and cultural diversity. Being in Tucson, AZ most of the "diversity" was about Hispanics and Native Americans.

One presenter did urge the therapists to not let their "Anglo" clients get away with saying they had no culture...find out their cultural heritage and use it to heal...in addictions that means pre-booze cultural history...good luck with the Scots and the Irish.....

Anyhow, not once did any speaker remark that there was a man of obvious Celtic heritage wandering about the conference kilted, honoring his heritage.

As much as I was all around maybe it was just plain obvious. Therapists are trained to be accepting. Noticed I got more of "The Look" from hotel staff and when out shopping than when around my peers at the conference.

Anyway...I'm still a tad pissy that I was living my culture, heritage, and being diverse and no one mentioned that it fit the theme of the conference.

Ron

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I had to appear in traffic court yesterday morning to take care of some insurance business (I rear ended a town vehicle a month ago, and just needed to supply proof that my insurance company was paying to fix the dented bumper). Anyhoo... I came kilted. I was going in to work right after court, so I just dressed like I normally do for work.

4-yard box pleated kilt, Mull tartan. Black, short sleeved buttoned shirt. Brown leather belt and sporran. Lovat blue hose and light green flashes (the Mull tartan is green, blue, and black, BTW -- same tartan as I have running on the top of my home page www.albanach.org). And sgian dubh.

I forgot I even had the sgian dubh on me. As I walked into the court house past a sign that said anybody was subject to search, I thought "this ought to be fun." I guess traffic court is pretty low security, because no one ever searched anybody, and I walked right through the metal detector (sgian dubh and all) with no problem.

I waited in line about 20 minutes with fellow violators of speed limits and road safety. No one said anything to me, and no one even gave odd glances that I could see. The man in front of me was very nice and we chatted a bit. The topic of the kilt never came up. The fellow behind me was a real peice of work. He had been caught going 82 in a 55 zone, and was bad mouthing our town for making him come back up from SC to pay his fine. In addition to bad mouthing the town itself, he had several unpleasant comments to make about the hispanics and Asians in line with us. Like I said, a real peice of work. I was just waiting for some ignorant comment about the kilt, but it never came. After about 15 minutes in line behind me, he seemed to notice the kilt for the first time and asked if I played the bagpipes. I told him no I didn't, and he just commented that they sounded nice if played well, but he couldn't stand listening to them played badly.

And that was pretty much it. When it came my turn to go up to speak with the DA, neither he nor the bailiff said anything about my kilt (or sgian dubh, which I was actually worried about). After my business was taken care of, on the elevator ride down, a woman asked me if there was a festival or something special going on today. I told her no, and said that I was headed to work at the Scottish museum down the street.

Maybe the courthouse being in the same town as the Scottish Tartans Museum is why no one raised an eyebrow. But I got the feeling that a good number of people in line were from out of town. I was actually really surprised at how few comments I recieved.

M

[Archangel]

And sgian dubh.

I forgot I even had the sgian dubh on me. As I walked into the court house past a sign that said anybody was subject to search, I thought "this ought to be fun." I guess traffic court is pretty low security, because no one ever searched anybody, and I walked right through the metal detector (sgian dubh and all) with no problem.

M

On the way to my citizenship ceremony last Monday, my wife asked if I was wearing my skean dhu. I said no since I was going into a court and expected tight security. At the court I remembered that I had my real "skean dhu" tucked away. Then I worried but the security was pretty slack, or normal, for here.

[Alan H]

By FAR and away the most common comment I get when kilted is some variation on "do you play the bagpipes?"....

Only once have I even had "the look" and that was from a pair of young Hispanic males who in all honesty, had probably never even heard of a kilt before in all their lives. 98 percent of the reactions of folks is total nothing... one percent is the bagpipes qustion. All the other reactions combined make up the other one percent.

[davedove]

I would be willing to bet that a large segment of those who say nothing are just afraid to do so. They may either like or dislike the kilt, but don't want to say anything for fear of "offending" the wearer.

[Alan H]

I would be willing to bet that a large segment of those who say nothing are just afraid to do so. They may either like or dislike the kilt, but don't want to say anything for fear of "offending" the wearer.

Yah, probably so. It's not like us gents wearing kilts are "invisible" you know?

I suppose many are more "being polite" rather than "afraid" but still, they're just unwilling to speak up about it. Anyway, the point is that as a general rule, nothing much happens when I wear my kilt. Seems like that's the case for most people, most of the time..

Now, I just wore my new Bear kilt to a wedding and a LOT happened, but I'm saving that tale for when I have the pics.

[Archangel]

Ya know David, that is one thing that dissappointed me a little. The theme of the conference was culture and cultural diversity. Being in Tucson, AZ most of the "diversity" was about Hispanics and Native Americans.

One presenter did urge the therapists to not let their "Anglo" clients get away with saying they had no culture...find out their cultural heritage and use it to heal...in addictions that means pre-booze cultural history...good luck with the Scots and the Irish.....

Anyhow, not once did any speaker remark that there was a man of obvious Celtic heritage wandering about the conference kilted, honoring his heritage.

As much as I was all around maybe it was just plain obvious. Therapists are trained to be accepting. Noticed I got more of "The Look" from hotel staff and when out shopping than when around my peers at the conference.

Anyway...I'm still a tad pissy that I was living my culture, heritage, and being diverse and no one mentioned that it fit the theme of the conference.

Ron

was at an event last year where someone did single someone out that way, wasn't too offensive but it didn't sound right. Several people did speak to the directors and there was an apology. It involved my friend and I, mostly him. He wasn't really offended, just surprised. It was clumsy.
Point is that it is better to ask first, and safer.
Another thing is that if you know the speaker, you could suggest that connection. I've done that with another friend who says, "what a great illustration, should've told me before I spoke." Now, if I know what he's speaking on, I'll offer first.