Maybe this needs to go in the "overheard" thread, but I'll go ahead and bring this up.

With the weather here in Kansas finally cooling off, I decided to wear my "everyday" kilt -- a Sportkilt, Hunting tartan -- to a high school football game Friday night. My son is in the band and drumline.

I got a couple of comments or questions from some high school kids before the game -- the usual stuff -- and I was usually able to come back with something funny ("It's a kilt; if I was wearing anything underneath it, then it would be a skirt," etc.) while also saying, "It's a traditional Scottish garment and one of the most comfortable things you'll ever wear." Jokes and education -- what a deal!

Anyway, what threw me was, during the game, a woman I am acquainted with needed to get by me to go to the concession stand. As I let her by, she smiled and said, "What a nice skirt! I love it! That's great."

I kept waiting for the indication that she was kidding and just giving me a hard time, and it never came. She's got a Masters in nursing and is also a practicing attorney. I thought I should've said something, but what? I was at a total loss for words. She went to the concession stand and I sat back down. I turned to my wife and asked, "Did you hear that?" She didn't, but a woman behind me who I am also acquainted with giggled and said, "I did." I asked her if she thought the woman was teasing and just didn't pull the joke off well, and she said, "I don't think so." She giggled again.

There was a long pause. I had no idea what to say. Coming from an educated 50-year-old woman, that threw me for a loop. Then the woman behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Even though Englishmen have died for less, try not to kill her, lad."

Has anyone else gotten a comment like that that caught you so off-guard, you were at a loss?