Are you Scottish?

[Raphael]

"Here's Your Sign"

People can be remarkably stupid.

I had a college friend from Hong Kong back in the 60's. More than once I watched some fool go up to him and exclaim, "Are you Chinese?"

His standard response was to pull himself into his full height (he was tall), get this indignant look on his face, and reply forcefully, "No, I'm British!"

Ron

That brought back memories from my experience in an American high school.

Q: Are you Chinese

A: Yes, I am

Q: SO you are from China

A: Nope. I am from Hong Kong

Q: But you are Chinese?

A: Yes.

Q: How can you be Chinese and not from China?

A: Because Hong Kong is a British Colony and I was born there.

Q: SO you are British?

[Miah]

Q. Are you Scottish ?
A. Shut your suck and get out of my face.

that is my normal responce to people that have stupid things to spew from there mouths.

[Mike n NC]

I got this question just last night when the wife and I were out for dinner, me in my kilt, she in her kilted skirt. Looks sorta obvious don't ya think? While both of us have very strong scottish family ties my usual response is "No, I'm an American" which usually leads to the next stupid question of the day, "Then why are you wearing a kilt?"

Being new to wearing kilts does nothing to change the lifelong way of thinking, similar to Bear's, "I will tollerate ignorance and try to correct it but I have little or no time for stupidity. The difference? Ignorance is doing/saying something and not knowing better; stupidity is knowing better and doing it anyway." Following that, my reaction is usually judged and delivered accordingly.

In the incident last evening the question came from a young lady we had just shared a habachi table with during dinner and seem completely sincere. I did give a brief explination of our family ties then went on to explain that kilts are becoming more and more popular as a regular wardrobe item for men today. I followed this by giving her boyfriend/husband/date a card for one of our kiltmakers, shook hands and wished them a wonderful evening.

Mike

[richardljohnson]

I gave up on the long answer sometime ago and just give the short verson..."My family was and I decided to carry on the tradition." The other question is "Do you play the pipes?" My response is, "No, but I drink Scotch. Want to buy me some?"

This get a variety of responses...I'm still waiting for a "Yes"!

Richard-

[Anthony]

"No, but I drink Scotch"

What a wonderful Retort!

[Robert Lamb]

If asked "are you scottish"? by a women in pants just asked then, since you are wearing a pair of pants "are you a man"?
Robert"the kilted" Lamb

[Tim Walker]

This question should fade as kilts are popularized.

[Graham]

I don't mind stupid questions. Asking questions is one of the smartest things we can do.

I get annoyed when asked questions by people who have not thought the question through or who could figure out the answer with a bit of thought.

Hang on a minute Bear, surely you have defined "stupid questions" here, but say you don't mind them, and then say they annoy you.

Maybe you mean "degrees" of stupidity?

Since I am an expert is asking stupid questions, I tend to be more tolerant of others who ask them of me.

It's only where malice or rudeness is received that i am reluctant to give an answer, but I rarely see that.

[bear]

I don't mind stupid questions. Asking questions is one of the smartest things we can do.

I get annoyed when asked questions by people who have not thought the question through or who could figure out the answer with a bit of thought.

Hang on a minute Bear, surely you have defined "stupid questions" here, but say you don't mind them, and then say they annoy you.

Maybe you mean "degrees" of stupidity?

Since I am an expert is asking stupid questions, I tend to be more tolerant of others who ask them of me.

It's only where malice or rudeness is received that i am reluctant to give an answer, but I rarely see that.

Graham,
I may have not made my point clearly.
On the street, a woman I did not know asked me if I was Scottish. I find this somewhat rude.
It is akin to asking an Indian man in a turban if he is Sikh. Of course he's Sikh!
Raphael gets asked if he is Scottish. Raphael is Chinese.
There are two kinds of stupid questions. The first kind is from a lack of knowledge. A computer novice might ask, "what is a computer mouse?" Stupid question, but understandable from a novice.
The second kind of stupid question is one that could be assumed or deduced from observation but the asker of the question is too lazy to think.

I don't mind the first kind of stupid question. That's a good way to learn. I always answer this kind of question because I like to help and teach others.
The second kind of stupid question is just intellectual laziness and usually bothers or embarrasses others. It's rudeness and while I normally explain about kilts, sometimes the demanding way the question is asked gets my fur up and I respond in kind.

[Mychael Sporrano]

I have been cogitating on this topic between tasks today. Sometimes I think that people are simply looking for a way to break the ice; consequently, asking if you are Scottish or telling you they like your skirt is the first thing that pops into their mind and so that is what they blurt out.

Bear is right though when he says that folks don't generally make similar inquiries of men wearing turbans. Perhaps wearing a kilt appears more of a festive things making those who are wearing them seem more approachable, leading to the goofy questions. I strongly suspect that to many the fellow in the turban comes off merely as a fellow wearing a turban, while the fellow in the kilt comes off as the fellow wearing a costume.

Mychael