Laughter?

[mudd]

Pray for me, I drive in Hemet! Are you from there originally?

Sounds like you and your wife have a great relationship with the battleaxe MIL - staying in a hotel. If I were in your shoes (obviously, I'm not, so take it with some NaCl) my wife had better have told her mother that her husband wears what he pleases, and has no need of her approval. Really. Who does she think she is?

1) No, I'm not from there. That is where my MIL decided to move to several years ago from Brighton, CO because... the air is cleaner?

2) She had expected us to stay with her in her house. The hotel was my idea. 8-)

3) My wife HAS made it clear to her that I will do as I please (without offending others, of course), which come to think of it is another reason NOT to appear in the Kilt. ;-)

4) She thinks she is just the sweetest little old lady on the face of the earth who would NEVER try to impose her will on anyone else, ever. And how could you even THINK such a thing.

[mudd]

After looking at my last reply, it occurs to me that it may have come across as being belligerent or sarcastic and even angry. I feel the need to clarify that it was not meant to be. I just added some smilies to emphasize.

I am rarely completely serious these days, especially when posting on the net. I feel that humor is the best way to deal with stress, and we all know that there is LOTS of stress these days, with the situation in the world.

So, Angus, I apologize if you took it wrong. Also, it looks like we just drove right past you yesterday on I25 heading North. According to the KILTMAP, you live out in an empty field somewhere South of Denver. Cool.

[GlassMan]

;) My grandmother sounds very similar to your Mother-In-Law. She sees herself as just the kindest thing around, but in truth she manipulates all of her children and most of her grandchildren through intense amounts of emotional guilt. You know what I mean, the sigh that happens just after she mentions how much she wishes that the kids could have come to her house instead of visiting their other grandparents. Or the casual mention of how lonely she's going to be if you don't come over.

It drives all of her sons & daughters in law crazy.

Oddly enough I'm the only one of her descendants she doesn't do that to.

Now as for your dealing with those who giggle and laugh at the kilt, I usually take a few lessons from grandma! :grin: I assume an air of superiority and manage to patronize and intimidate them verbally until they are the ones who fell silly. I'm not a man of violence, never have been. I'm only 5' 8", I'm overweight now and if I'm out and about I'm usually in a wheelchair or walking with a cane. But I've never let anyone, no matter how big or how belligerant, intimidate me.

I've always found that the person ignorant enough to make fun of someone else for no reason also backs down the minute they don't get the intended response from the victim.

Of course, I've also been told that I have such an air of self-assurance that it gives those prone to violence the impression that I must be armed! ;) Go figure.

Or it could be the guardian angel Grandma says accompanies me. I've definitely been in spots where it seemed like it was only through angelic intervention that I was saved.

Here's an interesting and true story for you. Once, when my spouse was still working for the Transit Police, he was assigned to a metro station that didn't have any fast-food joints or restaurants nearby. So I drove over and stopped off at a McDonalds on the way to pick him up dinner. Well, the neighborhood is incredibly bad and overrun with gangs. When I was at the register paying, I was standing with the aid of a cane. A "crew" came up and surrounded me on 3 sides (the register was in front of me) and commented on my attire. My response was that having lost the use of my leg as a firefighter on 9-11 I felt I had the right to wear anything I pleased. I also stood up to my full (but short) height and tried not to slouch as I tucked my wallet back into my sporran. Oddly enough these gang members immediately got a kind of puzzled look on their faces and began asking questions about my time in the fire department. I finally had to tell them that I needed to go drop of my spouses dinner before it got cold because they kept wanting to hear stories about my fire department days. I'm not sure how a potential mugging turned into a fan club meeting, and from the looks of the other patrons and the employees they were startled by what was happening.

But I guess since I wasn't scared or intimidated and gave them a good reason to respect me, they backed off and turned back into the kids that they really were.

[mudd]

;) My grandmother sounds very similar to your Mother-In-Law.

Yup!

I'm not sure how a potential mugging turned into a fan club meeting,

Probably the combination of two things; firefighter and 9/11.

And GlassMan,
Please don't take this wrong, but I'll bet they would have changed back if you told them who your spouse was. Can’t help it, I’m a born cynic.
John

[GlassMan]

Please don't take this wrong, but I'll bet they would have changed back if you told them who your spouse was. Can’t help it, I’m a born cynic.
John

And that's exactly why I never mentioned it! 8)

Told you Grandma taught me how to manipulate!