Laughter?

[Andrew Breecher]

Personally, if my mother-in-law had been laughing at the thought of me wearing a kilt I (A) wouldn't care because I wear a kilt all the time anyway, or would toss the whole idea of dressing nicely, and worn torn, stained jeans, a heavy metal tee-shirt, and the rattiest, smelliest shoes I could find. Tell her she gave up the opportunity to see me dressed nicely. Or I just wouldn't have gone at all. If she can't play nicely, don't play at all.

Andrew.

[MacMullen]

Had she seen you kilted before? It's been my experience that people think the idea of your wearing a kilt is amusing, until they actually see you in person, in the kilt, then their opinion changes for the positive.

[Blu (Ontario)]

... when she got off the phone, she suggested that maybe I shouldn’t bring the Kilt on the trip. I asked her what was said and she says, “Well, she said she didn’t want us to dress up or anything, but I’m pretty sure that she was trying hard to keep from laughing out loud.” ...

The bottom line issue here is ignorance.

Mudd... Are you prepared to take the bull by the horns and educate these people despite themselves or would you prefer to capitulate and live with the status quo.?

The questions you need to ask yourself are...

1. Why are you doing this in the first place?
2. How important is this to you?
3. Is this a novelty or are you serious about it?
4. What are your goals? (where do you want this to go?)

You should know that there are a number of individuals on the board (including myself) that have been through the process of dispelling ignorance amongst family members. They may snicker once or twice... so what! The joke gets old pretty quickly. If you want respect from these people you're going to have to earn it.

Thems the facts, man.

blu

[mbhandy]

Let Me put it this way You were worried about her reaction. It would have passed but they live close to the Arroyo Fairways Mobil Home Club and I thought I lived in the middle of noware. She would have gotten over it. Besides You could have dressed down with your kilt. Sneakers or hiking boots or better yet Tevas. My father in law saw pictures of my Black Watch and his comment was "Nice Kilt" and he is upstate Ny. German retired fire fighter.

MrBill

[GMan]

How do I handle the humor? It all depends on how and who has said it. Usually just roll my eyes.

[flyv65]

I'm a fairly large, somewhat intimidating individual so I'm not usually laughed at face to face-although it did happen one time a few years ago. I was running some errands and stopped at a strip mall near my house where I saw four children between 6 and 8 years old who at first stared, then started to laugh and point as I walked by. I stopped and smiled, and started to laugh along with them, if only because they seemed to be so happy. I think laughter is a natural reaction to the unexpected, and I'm pretty sure these kids hadn't seen a man kilted before. I said good bye to them and walked away, still smiling.

Bryan...never had an adult laugh, tho...

[Schultz]

As someone who was heavily into the streetpunk scene and hung around folks with foot tall orange mohawks and other assorted fashion (or anti-fashion) statements, I'm pretty used to the snickering of ignorant folks. It can be a little offputting at first, particularly if I'm in an aggressive mood. Yesterday, I took the wife to a mall that has a Frederick's of Hollywood to spend some of her Christmas money on some new...ah...presents for me ;) and I got more than a few snickers from younger girls as we walked through the mall. Guys pretty much just stare, but the teenage girls are the worst, so caught up in their own twisted concepts of fashion.

One particular girl kept elbowing her friend, who was on her cellphone, trying to get her attention to look at me. Her friend was apparently way too busy in her conversation to even look, which only made the gawker more animated. Feeling a little mischievous, I finally walked over to the girl on the phone, tapped her on the shoulder and said, "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I think your friend wants to show you what I'm wearing." I did a little spin, prompting some laughter from the girl on the phone who went, "Nice!". I tipped my hat to the gawker, who was very red faced and obviously embarassed herself.

I do love turning things around on people.

In short, bollocks to the laughers. Their ignorance and lack of respect should not have any bearing on what you choose to wear, be it a kilt, blue hair, or even silly looking baggy bondage pants.

[Valencian Kilted]

As someone who was heavily into the streetpunk scene and hung around folks with foot tall orange mohawks and other assorted fashion (or anti-fashion) statements, I'm pretty used to the snickering of ignorant folks. It can be a little offputting at first, particularly if I'm in an aggressive mood. Yesterday, I took the wife to a mall that has a Frederick's of Hollywood to spend some of her Christmas money on some new...ah...presents for me ;) and I got more than a few snickers from younger girls as we walked through the mall. Guys pretty much just stare, but the teenage girls are the worst, so caught up in their own twisted concepts of fashion.

One particular girl kept elbowing her friend, who was on her cellphone, trying to get her attention to look at me. Her friend was apparently way too busy in her conversation to even look, which only made the gawker more animated. Feeling a little mischievous, I finally walked over to the girl on the phone, tapped her on the shoulder and said, "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I think your friend wants to show you what I'm wearing." I did a little spin, prompting some laughter from the girl on the phone who went, "Nice!". I tipped my hat to the gawker, who was very red faced and obviously embarassed herself.

I do love turning things around on people.

In short, bollocks to the laughers. Their ignorance and lack of respect should not have any bearing on what you choose to wear, be it a kilt, blue hair, or even silly looking baggy bondage pants.

:mrgreen: great history, man! Spain is also full of that kind of "babes", and I also don't like them at all, but young lads are worst,... they're becoming violent as well as superficial!, but ur reaction was really funny!

Cheers for the next year!! ¡Salud!

T O N O

[GlassMan]

I tend to find that the ones who laugh the most are also those who look the most laughable themselves.

[Southern Breeze]

Schultz,great story! Most of the laughter I hear is from teens in the mall.I was in the local mall friday and heard some.I went back today to return a shirt and because I was wearing a clerical shirt,heard none.There were a lot of deer in the headlights looks though. As I said before,it doesn't bother me at all.