Knowing what we all know now ...

[pbpersson]

50? You are a mere pup.

Well....thanks! You made my day! If I live as long as my parents I have at LEAST another good 25 years ahead of me.

Don't lie on your death bed (50 more years from now) and pine over the time you almost took control of your life.

You know what? When you are on your death bed wishing you had done something, it's too late. I NEVER, NEVER want to have those sort of regrets!!

[MacSimoin]

Just feel the need to echo Ugly Bear's comments:

If I knew then what I know now, I would not have been the same person. And I would have grown up to be a different person.

I totally agree with this but also feel it's fruitless to imagine what you'd be like if you knew then the things you know now. Simply put, it's unimportant.

Taking the question at face value, the answer is no. I would not have worn a kilt to my suburban high school in the mid-80's.

I have no doubt I'd have tried to wear kilts while in high school; but considering the upper-class conservative school district I came from, and the ultra-strict upbringing I labored through, courtesy of my parents, it would have never happened.

Teenaged me and myself today would not have gotten on at all. But we're probably united in our disdain for elderly me, coming up in a couple more decades.

This is actually one of the funniest things written in this thread. "Teenaged Me" would have no doubt been scared to death of "Me Now" but we'd both probably be frightened out of our wits by "Middle Aged Me", who's been banging on the door for the past year. I don't think he's going away.

[Zardoz]

I've been interested in my Celtic roots and the idea of kilts as long as I can recall, since high school, 20-25 years at least. But limited information back in those pre-'net days and cost put me off. Every time I'd see a pipe band, highland games, or something on TV, I'd say I wish I had a kilt. If I'd had one in those days, I'd most likely only have worn it to those type events, and maybe my wedding.

I've always been pretty self confidant, raised up in a family of motorcycling free thinkers, we never really cared what the "citizens" thought anyway!

I guess the big differences for me in the last couple years have been;
Less expensive good quality kilt options.
Avalibility of all this info due to the internet.
More disposable income.

At 43, I don't really see myself as middle-aged, (although I do have the sportscar) I still feel like I'm in my teens or 20's, at least mentally! I work with a lot of young people and we all get along fine! I think teenaged me and me today would hit it off famously! Although I would surely be a bad influence on teen me!

[Kilted_John]

Ever since 1984, I wanted to have a kilt. Probably wouldn't have worn it out much, but in high school, I kinda wish we had uniforms and that they included the kilt. I would've worn one quite happily and would've worn it even when I wasn't in school.

So, if I had known then what I know now, I probably would've saved up for one and bought it.

-J

[auld argonian]

This is actually one of the funniest things written in this thread. "Teenaged Me" would have no doubt been scared to death of "Me Now" but we'd both probably be frightened out of our wits by "Middle Aged Me", who's been banging on the door for the past year. I don't think he's going away.

We were in Washington DC once during some of the World Trade Talks and the attendant student demonstrations that go with them. My son was terrified that we were going to get caught up in one of the demonstrations and be gassed and arrested by the DC cops...we were there as tourists but everywhere we went we ran into the demonstrators. On day we're walking over to the National Gallery and from around the corner comes the whole big slew of psuedo-hippie demonstrators...my son just freezes...and I lean over and tell him, "If any of them give you any trouble just point at me and say 'You see this guy? This is my dad and he was a hippie back in the sixties and seventies and he was at the '68 Democratic Convention in Chicago and now he's bald, fat, got two kids, a mortgage and drives a station wagon...so live it up while you can cause this is what the future has in store for you!'"

To quote Frank Zappa: "The future is scary...yes, it sure is!"


Best

AA

[morrison]

It's to my discredit that for so many years I hid, acted cowardly, stretched truth (to flat out lies), followed the herd and gave no mind to thinking for myself. I did what I was told to do. I was told what to believe, and believed what I was told.
It's to the disdain of the now bereft manipulators that I now think, live, and die free!
In high school my life was controlled by fear, peer pressures, naivete, pride and ignorance. I would occassionally act out, but rarely original in thought. More likely my seeking of approval was reinforced by imitations of earlier rebels' acts. None of those acts included a breach of the dress code. Once I wore my bermuda shorts to school, I was sent home for more proper clothing. Denim blue jeans were acceptable, but few wore them to school. Instead most of us favored some style of creased trousers. Haircut? nuff sed.
I cinched up my first full time kilt wearing day as a 51 year old boy.
I'm just sittin' here at 54 thinkin' to m'self, "Well, here's a bunch of boomers finally havin' a fit of freedom and loving it!"
"It's nice to be so young amoungst all you young old farts!"

[beloitpiper]

I'm a college student right now, and proud to say that I wear a kilt at least twice a week to class. I didn't wear it that much in high school, but that was only because of extracurricular activites. Football, theatre, etc. were a bit different in a kilt, and I needed a bit more freedom of movement...

[Roan Carter]

Even if I could have worn my kilt to high school, the type of people that I encountered there would have done their best to make me miserable. However, I do wear my kilt to my college classes quite frequently. At least once a week, but usually more than that.

On a personal level, I have long hair and have always been part of an artistic circle. It wasn't so hard for me to adjust to standing out. With a little time, the nasty comments just seemed to go unheard.

[O'Neille]

I started wearing a kilt when I played rugby in college. Just club-second row forward. I'd worn one before (my uncles in Scotland). I stopped after college and started again when I blew out my knee playing hockey because I couldn't wear trousers over the brace. Wore it for about a month or so straight and then got too fat to continue. Anyway I got back in shape and what do you know my old clothes fit again. Now I wear when I can at least 2-3 times a week and not for any reason other than I like it. I'm trying to get a touch, pre 1967 league rules, club started in Cochise County if anyone knows of former players who just want to get together and pretend to be playing a sport before drinking Guinness. O'Neille

[Pour1Malt]

ai wuid hae worn kilts...

ai hae always set ma ain fashion trends... n'er did try tae fit in wi' the crood....