Tartan ice breaker

[Streetcar]

The other night my wife and I went to a party thrown by a woman who did some interior decorating for us.
(All right - you in the back - stop that sniggering...)
Anyway, the lady is a real hoot and I found out recently that she grew up in Scotland.

I decided to wear my McDonald of Clanranald with a black, long sleeved polo. My wife said she was fine with it, but I could tell she had some reservations.

The party itself was filled with her former clients. Other than a couple of her brothers and sisters, the only thing anyone had in common with anyone else at the party was the fact that this woman had done some decorating for them.

She was tickled pink by the kilt. The rest of the night we had people purposefully coming up to us to chat. I fully believe that if I hadn't been kilted, we wouldn't have spoken with even half of the people we did.

At any rate, the highlight was this English gentleman who strode over and asked, "The real questions, is do you have the right to wear that?"
In the same semi-indignant tone he had used, I asked, "And who are you? The tartan police?"
It literally set him back on his heels.

Well, I must have inadvertantly mimicked a portion of his accent, because he started laughing and said, "At least your not one of these bloody Americans who just decided to put them on. How long have you been in country?"
"All my life."
Again, back on his heels.

We chatted about kilts, a little about the origins of Clanranald and the mishmash of how tartans eventually became associated with different clans.

He ended up being a pretty genial fellow, and I ended up having the most enoyable conversation with him.

Know a kilt, know your kilt and stand proud.