Quote Originally Posted by DWFII View Post
"Cheap" doesn't start in the pocketbook...it starts in the heart--in an indifference to what makes life valuable and worth living. It starts with a lack of understanding and respect for those things that connect us and make us human. Devaluing manual labour--the Trades--devaluing the connection between the heart and the hand (as is standard in any industrial setting), all contribute.
I think we have a basic misunderstanding here. It is not that we, the great unwashed, don't see and understand a difference in quality when we see it. It's just that I buy my shoes (and my kilts) with the same money that I feed and cloth my wife and family with. I am a pastor, and I live from paycheck to paycheck. Yes I chose this lot in life, nobody chose it for me, and I am happy with it. So before spending years saving for what you would consider a "real" kilt, I decided to buy a few less expensive, sturdier kilts that I can get more use out of, to see if I enjoy being kilted. Lo and behold I've found that I do enjoy it. For now, I will continue to value and support a few folks here in the states that are laboring over their sewing machines just for me. I'll start putting away a little at a time so that one day I'll be able to do my part to keep that mill open. In the meantime, it doesn't hurt my feelings at all being called a cross-dresser by anyone who can in any way connect the quality of their stuff with what "makes life valuable and worth living."

Have Fun,
Tom