O my God

[GG]

Today it is damp and windy outside making the 4.5C (40F) feel rather like 0C (32F), so this Sunday morning I soon forgot about a long walk and took the car to buy a newspaper.
I parked outside a gas station very close to the entrance door. A woman was sitting on a bank next to the door but with her face towards the building. She was talking to somebody on her cell phone. The moment I approached the entrance door she got aware of me and almost screamed out:
“O my God; here is a man in a kilt.”
I have no idea what the reaction from the other person on the line was, or what she afterwards said about the man in the kilt. Having bought the paper, she was still busy on her phone. She looked up, a little embarrassed; it seemed, and gave me something of a smile.
It was one of the few negative reactions to my kilt wearing, I guess, but never mind, on a dull day like this…

Greg

www.dress2kilt.eu

[SFCRick]

I feel sorry for you in the cold

[OFCJAX]

Not really sure if that was a negative but as Dana would say, there's more in the tone than the actual words said.

[MacDanar]

That's true. Tone of voice trumps what is actually said, generally. It's hard to fake the nonverbal element of a verbal statement, particularly in a knee jerk reaction like that (sorry, my communication degree is at work here). My guess is that you caught her off-guard, and maybe she thought it was a bit cold to be kilted. I wouldn't call it a negative, necessarily - just different. Certainly spiced up both your days, though, I'd say.

[Jerry]

I have been going outside to feed our little poultry flock and make sure they have wate, wearing either my Stillwater economy or my original Sportkilt it temperatures of 32F and below for the last month, and I'm usually out fog 5 to 10 minutes. I do wear a pair of kilt hose with my boots on the coldest days, and I don't really feel all that cold. My hands feel much colder than my legs. The coldest morning so far, was 14F. The current temperature is 29F and I will be heading out after my morning coffee.

[Rex_Tremende]

I think of astonishment as a neutral (if sometimes strong) reaction. Sometimes it's fun to be the cause of it.

Regards,
Rex, who thinks 40F sounds mild compared to some of what we've been dealing with this week.

[Mike in Dayton]

I don't think it was a negative comment. She may have just left off the "That's great!" part at the end. I am sure she was embarrassed a little knowing you heard the comment.

[Jack Daw]

Whenever a woman smiles, it's never a negative thing.

Even if she were to call me a "weirdo" in Danish, that's still a positive.

[GMan]

I got on public transportation once and this guy was talking on his cell phone, when all I heard was "Dude Dude Dude Dude in a Kilt Dude this Dude is Kilted I can't believe it Dude."

[Nighthawk]

I had a rather interesting experience last night, myself. I was out shopping for a laptop computer, and I noticed an older lady staring at me. She obviously noticed that I had noticed and said to me in very broken English "Sorry I stare. Your skirt is just very beautiful." I of course very politely corrected her as it was obvious she was from a completely different culture and was making no snide comments, and was in fact making an honest compliment. It turned out that she was Japanese and had never heard of or seen a kilt, and that men in Japan wear things that are similar from time to time, and they just call them skirts. I told her a little about my family heritage, some of the history of the kilt (and particularly the Black Stewart tartan, which is what I was wearing) and she and I had a very pleasant conversation. All in all a good experience.