Twice in one night, "No, I am not the entertainment."

[SteveB]

I am kilted every day, generally in a tartan. Boston is a very diverse city. Rarely do I get:

"Play the pipes?"
Current answer* is to ask the jean wearer "do you rope cattle?"

"Where is the Parade?"
I just name any city outside of the U.S.

Funeral Today?
"several, I am sure"

Only once, and while wearing a black Utilikilt "What part of Scotland are you from?"
Answer: Boston, Massachusetts U.S.A.

* Answer will have to change in three or four years, as I am learning the pipes, and if my tutor is still working with me by then I should be blowing perfect tunes.

Slainte

[Phogfan86]

My son and I are walking from our car to the designated meeting place for our pipe band prior to a parade today. We're in matching black sweaters, white shirts, black ties, kilts, hose, gillies and carrying bagpipes.

A woman coming the other way asks, "Are you two in the parade?"

You can't make this stuff up.

[GMan]

You really can't help but laugh at these things. Then roll your eyes.

[Mike in Dayton]

I get those comments a lot but mostly when I am wearing a tartan kilt. Not so much in the plain color kilts. Do I play the pipes or am I in a band are the most common.

Mike

[davidlpope]

Granted, it's hard to judge the tone of a conversation from just the recounted words, but I think that we who wear kilts often may need to cut the general public some slack when they ask about our attire.

Most people view the kilt as being a uniquely Scottish (or erroneously, Irish) national dress. I think that's a fair mindset for them to have if the only place they have ever seen a kilt being worn is by a piper or at by folks attending a highland games or some other related event. They probably have never been presented (at least until they meet you) with a situation where a person is wearing a kilt and not either playing the bagpipes or showing a connection to the Scottish Highlands.

I think sometimes their assumptions (So, you must be getting ready for St. Patrick's Day) are more of their attempts to be friendly and start a conversation rather than an indictment of your actions.

In a way all of us "play the odds" when we start a conversation. If I see someone who is wearing a UNC sweatshirt I don't make the assumption that he plays for the basketball team, but I do make the assumption that he likes that particular university. If I'm going to strike up a conversation I may ask him if he attended UNC. He may not have and say, "I just like this shade of blue," but he would be in the wrong to malign my question. Likewise, I think it's a fair assumption that someone who is wearing a kilt has a pretty good likelihood of 1) knowing that St. Patrick's Day is coming up, and 2) having plans to celebrate it. So, that particular statement may just be his way of trying to find some common ground to talk about.

Whether we like it or not, the practical reality is that we will attract attention when we wear kilts in environments where they are not expected (somewhere other than highland games, piping competitions, etc.) I think most of us are actually pleased when we receive this attention, if we're honest with ourselves.

I'm always encouraged when someone is willing to engage me in conversation about my kilt. I consider it an opportunity to be an ambassador for such a "noble garment". The other possibility is that folks won't say anything to you and their misconceptions will continue to exist.

I know it gets old to have to give the same explanations over and over. But for the people you're interacting with this is the first time that they have encountered the situation.

Obviously, what I'm referring to are good-natured, honestly held misconceptions. Mean-spirited attacks ("Hey skirt-boy, where's your high heels?, etc.) fall into a different category and should be dealt with as any other mean-spirited, demeaning statement.

Cordially,

David

[Rex_Tremende]

... I think that we who wear kilts often may need to cut the general public some slack when they ask about our attire.

[...]

I think sometimes their assumptions (So, you must be getting ready for St. Patrick's Day) are more of their attempts to be friendly and start a conversation rather than an indictment of your actions.

I had started an earlier reply to this thread - nearly the same thing happened to me last night, twice - but then I realized this was about non-tartan, contemporary kilts.

However, David's post plucks a weary nerve for me, in that it's been my observation that most comments like this aren't meant to start an actual conversation, but rather to give the other party a socially acceptable way of reacting when coming face-to-face with the unexpected man in a kilt. More often than not, in my experience, when their assumptions are not validated, they simply run out of things to say and are, in practice, quite incapable of carrying on a conversation. The question is sort of the kilted equivalent of "Hi Bob! How are you?" It doesn't expect an answer beyond "I'm very well, thanks!" The onus is on me, then, to advance the conversation, if there is to be one.

Here's a conversation ender: "No, I don't play the pipes. I just like to wear kilts."

And here's a conversation pick-up, if I'm in the mood: "No, I don't play the pipes. Are you interested in highland music?"

Regards,
Rex.

[ixoyedeg]

My son and I are walking from our car to the designated meeting place for our pipe band prior to a parade today. We're in matching black sweaters, white shirts, black ties, kilts, hose, gillies and carrying bagpipes.

A woman coming the other way asks, "Are you two in the parade?"

You can't make this stuff up.

"Here's your sign."