Nice day kilted.

[Doc Hudson]

Rest assured the expressions you get when you inform folks it is "Kilt Day" are priceless!

I love that line!! Thanks for coining the phrase Motorman.

[overexposed]

Good Morning!

Interesting reading about first-time public kilt wearing jitters.

I am a very self-confident person but have experienced the learning curve required to gain a comfort level of going about while kilted. Sometimes though, the best method to get past that is to just take the plunge.

Recently, I attended a 10 day US Army medical school. It was taught by the Army Reserve on an installation that is 90% National Guard and held in the Super-STRAC, "Dress Right, Dress" National Guard schoolhouse complex.

This building is operated by a fulltime Guard unit that conducts numerous training courses including PLDC (the firstof a series of NCO leadership school), BNCOC (Basic Non-Commissioned Officer Course - needed to become a Staff SGT), TAITC (the course that is required to become an army instructor), etc.

Our 'graduation' ceremony was brief and involved mainly outprocessing, cleaning the classroom (a subsequent class started the following day with about 1/2 of my class staying for it and 1/2 headed home), and then being called forward to receive your certificate and "1059" - the official form that validates successful completion of an army course.

Because so many people were leaving directly from the 'graduation' , and because it was a very brief and informal ending - we were allowed to attend in civilian clothes.

I decided to grab my credentials (Distinguished Honor Grad - not bragging just a tidbit that added more drama to the saga!) while wearing my woodland camo UK. Going to the mall the first time while kilted may have been tough but deciding to wear a kilt in a very busy military school setting was a fairly big leap for me.

As I left my room with the last load of gear to throw in my car, I passed a group of 8 or 10 female "Pre-IETs" - National Guard enlistees who are required to attend a 5 day school prior to shipping off to basic training. One of the 18-ish year old females hollered out "Sir, that is a kickass kilt" to which I replied thanks and wished them well in basic.

My 22 soldier platoon marched the short distance to the main building - passing 150 PLDC students who instantly noted the kilted wacko in the back.

If I had been a monk who just set myself ablaze and started walking down the schoolhouse hall - I would not have created more interest than I did in the UK.

I was most likely one of the first kilted people to ever walk those halls and almost certainly the first to do so in a camouflage garment. In this case, the fact that it was cammie was the primary factor in its impact. A tartan garment would have caused people to look but seeing a kilt in the exact same material as the uniforms of the 100s of nearby soldiers - that is really what made things rock.

The biggest compliment I got was an indirect one. As I was getting in my car to depart, I heard one of my classmates tell the others - "You know how there is one guy in every class who you will never forget? There goes that guy!"

Nice.

Sincerely,
OE

[MacSimoin]

I have yet to receive a disparaging word or anything of the sort visiting local retailers when kilted. I've worn my kilt when shopping (but not merely to go kilted) at Staples, Sam's Club, BJ's Wholesale, Wal-mart, CVS, Dicks' Sporting Goods, Wawa, Godiva, Sears, Barnes & Noble, Border's, Best Buy, Circuit City, local restaurants, supermarkets, Irish shops and antique stores...the list goes on and on.

Since I don't 'do the bar thing' much at all anymore (rarely, ie, twice or thrice a year), my experiences there are limited to a few drunken women saying "Nice legs, baby" and "Can I warm my hands up, up there?", etc...all of which can illicit looks that kill from my fiance (although she usually just smiles and says something to the effect that "Sorry, girls...that shillelagh is mine").

For some reason, being kilted usually attracts a crowd when I'm in Barnes & Noble (employees and patrons alike) though when I'm at The Home Depot (2 minutes away...gotta love that) I'm barely noticed unless its the occasional contractor asking where I got the kilt. Around here, people are fairly at ease with the kilted man (especially the ladies).

On the whole, I'm fairly comfortable and 'accepted' wherever I may be kilted...and with those few dolts who have something negative to say ("Hey, there's a mick in a skirt in here shooting pool!", actually overheard in a local Irish pub on St. Patrick's Day 2004...a huge blunder on his part) I simply smile (this generally infuriates them) and go about my business.

[arrogcow]

Recently, I attended a 10 day US Army medical school. It was taught by the Army Reserve on an installation that is 90% National Guard and held in the Super-STRAC, "Dress Right, Dress" National Guard schoolhouse complex.

First good for you wearing it to this, speaking as someone who wears a kilt on a daily basis (95% of the time a UK), this is one place where I would have had second thoughts.

Second, rather than hijack this thread, I started a new one about the possibilities of a military kilt.
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...144#post170144

Adam

[Verlyn]

:-) OE, That's great! I reported earlier about my positive experience getting my physical for getting to go back into the Navy Reserve and I wore my kilt. I had to go back to get some more paperwork about a month later after a job interview and I was in a suit this time. They remembered me because of the kilt and were actually disappointed that I didn't wear it again. In fact the senior dentist said I should have called him first (since it was a friday afternoon) so we could go get some haggis and guiness together. What a hoot!