Being kilted here is a mixed bag, as I am sure that it is anywhere you go.

I've been put in the emergency room and have lost a tooth due to a large number of cretins wishing to teach me a lesson for wearing a skirt. It was not a fair fight at all, and I have no desire to go in to details here.

But I have also had some of the most amazing human interactions because of wearing it. Tourists from Scotland, including one old woman who actually wept because one of her American cousins had the fortitude to wear the kilt as daily dress. I have been swarmed by Japanese tourists armed with buzzing clicking cameras, and while I have no clue to what they were saying in Japanese, there couldn't be anything bad going on. One older gentleman from Scotland asked me one time in what I thought was going to be a spot of trouble "What gives you the right to wear that tartan?" Feeling somewhat irritated that day because of an earlier incident, I told him "Right of might as a Douglas." He started laughing and said good answer, and we ended up talking for about four hours in the plaza at a little table. Holding a door open for a women at the bank, I heard her say with an extreme British accent "Nice to know God still makes real men." Giving a crash course at the library to a bunch of school kids what a kilt was, explaining to them about pleats, and aprons, the straps and buckles, what tartans were, and even showing them in a book different tartans. Hearing one kid say tartans were like history books for people that can't read made my week. Being a regular fixture downtown and finally gaining acceptance from the various shopkeeps and businesses, earning their respect and trust. In the beginning, there was some rough moments, but now, I am welcome most everywhere.

I've worked very hard to get what I have now. I love where I live. This is my home, downtown Main Street is my front yard. I get discounts from some of the local shops because I've brought them business and having me around has added a touch of class or the exotic to their establishments.

The good far outweighs the bad.