First skirt comment

[ByDand]

I believe you handeled it quite well. As far as what other people call my kilt it really doesn't bother me as long as they are not being snide about it, however, I do draw the line at someone calling it a "frxslevbfte". Those are fighting words!

[Andrew Breecher]

Another response could be, "Thank you! This is one of my favourite kilts." That way you're not correcting her at all, but simply dropping the proper word into place. If she's savvy, she'll pick up on it and use it herself in the future.

Andrew.

[Alan H]

The first couple of days that I wore these things to work a few of my friends teased me with the "skirt" word. It was all in fun, though. Only one person kept it up and that's because she's a Chinese programmer...from China, and had NO clue. Once I sat down with her and used the word "Kilt" about 40 times and showed her pictures of Sean Connery, Ewan MacGregor and some of the guys on this board, the word "stuck".

She wasn't ever being nasty at all...not once. She'd just never heard the word or ever seen one, before.

[Ugly Bear]

I believe you handeled it quite well. As far as what other people call my kilt it really doesn't bother me as long as they are not being snide about it, however, I do draw the line at someone calling it a "frxslevbfte". Those are fighting words!

Hey, if you have a problem with my frxslevbfte, then you have a problem with me. You wanna fight? Fine. You got one. Me and my frxslevbfte will wipe up the floor with you.

PS: Although it's spelled "frxslevbfte," it is pronounced "kilt."

[Kilted Gunfighter]

The "S" word.... I have only had it thrown in my direction a few times, and I've handled it differently each time.

At Best Buy a woman hissed at me: "Why are you wearing a...SKIRT? (empahsis hers)"

I replied: Oh, because my balls are so large they won't fit in trousers. (Please pardon the vulgarity).

She went away in a huff.

Another time I had a woman say how much she loved my skirt ( I was wearing a Olive Drab Utilikilt) and I said: "Thanks, this is one of my favorite kilts" She immediately apologized and said she didn't mean to be disparaging, but she just couldn't find the right word. No biggie, I understood where she was coming from, given her big smile and the fact that she kept touching me (which I REALLY hate).

I guess you just have to know where people are coming from at times. Sometimes the best response is: "thanks"

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

Another response could be, "Thank you! This is one of my favourite kilts." That way you're not correcting her at all, but simply dropping the proper word into place. If she's savvy, she'll pick up on it and use it herself in the future.

Andrew.

Andrew, classy as always. This is a response that would have been perfect in this situation. I wish I had thought of it. One thing I failed to point out in the original post is that this lady and I were literally ships passing, she had dropped her children off at their class already and I was just walking in with my daughters. Neither one of us was interested in a long conversation.

Alan, I work with many people from overseas, and a majority of Asian desent and many of them do not have any frame of reference for this. Surprisingly to me (Rob's prejudice here), the women are more accepting than the men! And that has also been my experience with men and women of Indian descent, the other large non-US cultural group I interact with.

Ugly Bear, finally somebody who gets some of my more esoteric humor! Must be because we have upstate roots!

Oh, and for those who think I am trying to catch Graham, notice that I responded to 2 posts here instead of breaking them up into 2 for the post count!

Disclaimer: This does not mean that I am NOT trying to catch Graham, just don't want anyone to think that is the ONLY reason I post! My life is not that shallow! :grin:

[bubba]

Alan, I work with many people from overseas, and a majority of Asian desent and many of them do not have any frame of reference for this. Surprisingly to me (Rob's prejudice here), the women are more accepting than the men! And that has also been my experience with men and women of Indian descent, the other large non-US cultural group I interact with.

In my area there are quite a few Hmong and Hispanics with a sprinkling of middle easterners. Generally the Hmong women see the kilt and giggle while Hmong men ignore it. The middle easterners generally think they're rather neat and compliment me on the look while the Hispanic women smile and give compliments while Hispanic men look at it in a state of shock. These are rather broad generalizations of course.

[Angus MacSpey]

Just because a guy doesn't have a decent dental plan and has a blue-collar job doesn't meant that he's not an open minded, decent chap who it turns out shares a secret desire to wear a kilt!

Hey now... I'm a blue-collar dude without a dental plan! I just don't have a huge belt buckle, and I wouldn't be caught dead in public wearing a wife-beater. Or anything with "NASCAR" on it for that matter.... I's a sophistimacated redneck. :-D

I still remember the old adage about judging a book by its cover. Some of the dumbest people I know have Ph.D's. And I know one high-school-dropout carpenter who speaks 7 languages, plays 3 instruments, and has read enough books to converse with anyone about almost anything. Sheepskins and white collars - by themselves - do not impress me, obviously. No offense meant to those of you with the above.

This thread kinda got me thinking. Suppose someone compliments your "skirt" in passing. Would they have even spoken to you were you wearing trousers? Even if they had, they likely wouldn't say "nice pants!" Especially guys. That would be gay, you know.

Life is too short to stress out over ignoramuses. If you let them all get to you at once, all your hair would turn white, and you'd shrivel up and die in minutes. Which is why I say -

illegitimus non carborundum

[NewKilt]

I've only had the skirt comment one time. It was from a young boy who ask if I was wearing a skirt. I told him it was a kilt, and ask him if he had every head that term. He replied that he had not, so I explained some of the history behind the kilt and why I wore one. He seemed satisfied with the explanation and went on his way.

I've had one "costume" comment. It was from a woman visiting at the nursing home where my wifed works. It was a very complimentary comment because she said "I absolutely love your costume," and I could she was truely admiring the way I was dressed. I simply thanked her for the compliment, and didn't bother to tell her it was my daily attire. Perhaps if she ever saw me again, she might question why I was wearing another "costume." Then I would explain to her that I was not wearing it as a costume, and that it was actually daily clothing.

I've had two bagpipe questions. One from a woman that asked if I played bagpipes. There had been an add in the newspaper offering bagpipe lessons, and she thought that I might be the person that had placed the add. She wanted to take lessons. We had a nice discussion about Scottish heritage. The other remark occurred in Kinko's when a man said "where are your bagpipes?" I could tell it was just a good-natured ribbing, so I clicked my fingers together and said, "darn, I knew I forgot something. I left them at home." He laughed, and we had a nice converstion before we left the store.

I've only been wearing kilts since August of this year, but I think I handled each of these situations reasonably well, and possibly gained some respect for men that prefer to wear kilts.

Darrell

[Southern Breeze]

I haven't gotten the skirt comment much, and it dosn't bother me. The main thing I'm asked is do you play the bagpipes. Here in north GA. there is a huge Hispanic population and the reactions are the same as Bubba reported- smiles from the women and shock from the men. :-)