A Little Help Please. Kilts at Work Research

[Riverkilt]

Wow! You guys are both perceptive and deep. Thank you. From the input thus far I've developed a list of twelve key positive points and you've also given me five new ideas to pursue.

Strongest is that kilts show visual proof that our agency values diversity. And for sure I've seen over the past two years that kilts seem to help break the ice with fearful court mandated clients, showing we're there to help, not punish.

Is this a great board or what??!!

Ron

[RockyR]

A "counter argument" to bring up...

Your CEO's thoughts are that the kilt may have a negative "first impression" on a client and "turn them off" to you.

What if a client is homophobic and gets an openly gay counselor? Should that counselor be told to "tone it down" or "don't act gay" to suit the needs of the company because they MAY POSSIBLY SOMEDAY offend someone just by being who they are comfortable being?

What if a racist client gets a [insert ethnicity here] counselor?

What if a sexist man gets a female counselor?

Separate point...

An argument can be made that if you put all the picutres up in the office (great idea BTW) and openly express who you are and your passions that it would make a client feel MORE comfortable. You're showing them pieces of yourself and opening up BEFORE they even say a word! It's much easier to trust someone who puts themselves "out there" like that.

[jordanjm]

I would suggest showing
William MacIntosh - Creek Chief
If it would help look for the story of Alexander MacGillivray.

I guess what I'm saying is that by wearing a kilt, you are showing any Native American clients you have a strong connection to them on a cultural level.

[Skweres]

living in the states an all there are so many different cultures and alot of people love to remember it by wearing clothes or listening to music or anything else that it really shouldnt make a difference by what you wear, i unfortunately cant wear one at work because i work in a wear house and i kinda have to go up on lifts all day and no one really wants to accidentally see my jibblets, and there concerned slightly that i would hurt myself having my legs exposed, apparently a thin piece of khaki will stop anything from damaging my legs better than just my exposed shins......i beg to differ but they're the boss...

[ScottEPooh]

I wear a kilt regularly to work, and apart from the standard jibes from co-workers, I have had no problems. Of course, I also work in IT and have little communication with the public at work. I figure that if the employee handbook doesn't state "no kilting" then they can't take issue with it.

[Warhoover]

Ron,
Like Mowgli, I am a Network Administrator/Technician for a Community College and have worn my kilts many times to work. The first time I did I expected the usual questions etc. from the other staff in my department but most just went on their merry way like I had been doing it all the time. I deal with user issues on campus alot and I am usually out making rounds to most of our buildings mostly to make a presence and see how our staff and faculty are doing and if there any issues as we are very proactive. I have received many many compliments from the people I interact with, many saying I was more well dressed than some of our more dapper college administrators. In fact, there are now 3 faculty members I know of that wear their kilts now and then. I even showed up in the college President's office one day to deliver a new computer and he was highly complimentary. Not once have I received or heard of a complaint about my being kilted. I plan on wearing them more as my collection grows. I hope you get your issues resolved!

All the best,

Brad

[escherblacksmith]

I also work for a bank, but on the servicing side, so I don't see our external customers directly.

That said, I work extensively with folks from temp's all the way to EVP's, and, by an large, everyone likes it.

The ones who don't, tend to not like things out of there perception of normal. So, if your customer base is such, this can be an issue. If not, and if indeed they are coming in fearful of corporate things, then a kilt is the perfect way to go.

[R. Anderson]

I'm an elementary school teacher and wear my kilt to work on occasion. The kilt is a big hit with my fellow teachers and the principal. The kids were at first a bit suprised but that wore off after a few wearings.
The only bad experience I have had at work was with a parent. This fellow said "Nice skirt". I glared at him and corrected his mistake in proper elem. teacher style. I wanted to add &^#$head but there was a few students wondering around at the time. He didn't say anything else.

[Fearnest]

Ron (and everyone else) -

I'm the training manager for six career fields in the National Park Service and work at one of our training centers. I frequently wear a kilt on "casual Friday" when the uniform isn't required (in fact, I started wearing my kilt to work because some staff members didn't feel I was dressing casually enough on "casual Friday" - when I wear a long-sleeved shirt I tend to wear a tie and that caused some raised hackles).

Anyway, I had no kilt problems with my supervisor or senior manager (GS 14/15 level) - in fact they both encouraged it, but both have recently retired - so I'm waiting to see if their successors have any issues with my attire. Nothing has popped up yet, and our uniform policy/dress code isn't real specific for civilian clothing (other than to say "jeans are out unless you're going to be doing physical labor and getting dirty"). Clients (internal and external), students in the classroom, general public in and around the park and most staff members have been OK with it (after the "why is John wearing a kilt?" questions amongst themselves initially).

There are a few staff members with lingering issues just below the surface - typically "oh, you're wearing your skirt again" kind of thing trying to get a rise out of me (it hasn't worked in two years, why would it work now?), but there's one who feels he's been unduly chastised for wearing the wrong uniform during the week (field uniform, when the dress uniform is appropriate for wear in the office) - he thinks that the field uniform is more formal than a Matt Newsome 4 yard box pleated 16 ounce wool kilt. Well, there's no accounting for some taste, and opinions are like the "fourth point of contact" (a nod and a wink to my fellow paratroopers), everybody has one.

So I do get occasional sidelong glances at work, but more often than not (especially when dealing with folks from outside the center) those turn into opportunities to break the ice, talk, and do some networking/relationship building/partnering, etc.

Hope that helps a bit!

[Frog]

I've been wearing Utilikilts for almost a year, sometimes to work - depends on what I'm doing. I work in behavioral intervention with kids from 3 thru 21 years of age, and it occasionally gets physical, whether doing a restraint or providing sensory input for kids with autism or sensory integration difficulties. When it comes to this job, I'll wear a kilt for paperwork days or special events; I won't wear it when I expect to be doing a restraint, climbing playground equipment with younger kids, and haven't made up my mind about junior high settings where it could be a serious distraction in classes with kids with high levels of defiant, aggressive or oppositional behavior for whom I'm not directly responsible. I also work as a dog trainer, and don't mind wearing a kilt as long as I know I'm not working with an aggressive animal. One place I work (with dogs) requires all staff to wear pants or knee-length shorts of particular colors while working, otherwise, it's pretty much common sense and what one is comfortable in the way of FRIENDLY teasing from peers.

Occasionally I've gotten questions from parents of children, but no negative comments; a couple of kids have zinged me as well, not always in a friendly or appropriate fashion - that's the chance you take with these kids, whether you're kilted, overweight, bald, or otherwise apart in appearance - for me, it's often about being the only man in a field dominated by women in my area. You take the good with the occasional bad and keep on keepin' on.

Frog