We had the Scottish Walk in Alexandria yesterday, and after the very wet parade, a few of the folks in the pipe band retired to Murphy's (a local pub) for a celebration. There were quite a lot of kilties there, but more than that - there were dozens of people in all sorts of clothing, just having fun! Some were in ren-faire garb, others in WW2 uniforms, various color guards in Scottish and Irish attire, pipers, drummers, etc. Plenty of non-kilted people as well, and the music was all over the map.

As I looked around at the crowd, which changed quite a bit during my stay at the pub, I noticed one thing that stood out amongst all these celebrants - they were there having fun, and it didn't matter what you wore, or what your heritage was. It was an atmosphere of enjoyment, and in spite of the weather, they were certainly having fun. Were they of Scottish descent? I don't know... and more to the point, neither I or anyone else seemed to care.

I vote for inclusion, rather than exclusion, when it comes to cultural festivities like this one - it's a chance for more folks to learn about something outside their own "neighborhood", and that, in turn, can only be a beneficial thing...