"Do you do anything?"

[fudgeman]

PART 1
Tuesday morning I took my grandson to his daycare, which I frequently do. But, this time I was kilted for a long drive to Allentown, Pa.
His daycare director practically came running out of her office when I entered.
Her: "My you look so handsome."
Me: (Overwhelmed) "Thank you very much."
She looks me up and down, and says: "Do you do anything?"
I think my mouth dropped open a little. I had no idea what to say! Finally she said, "You know do you play the pipes or anything?"
Conversation then went into how much she thought the kids would enjoy having a piper come to the daycare, etc etc.
I had to chuckle to myself for most of the day as I though of it.
PART 2
So, I drive to Allentown (about 9 hours) stopping along the way. Wednesday I'm again kilted as we are out and about. Thursday, still kilted, I drive back to Charlotte again making stops along the way. NOT ONCE in the three days did anyone comment about the kilt!! That was a very curious trip. People ALWAYS comment about the kilt. Oh well, maybe they've seen so many it's no longer a curiosity. (But I doubt it!)
BTW, Do you do anything?

[McNulty]

Fudgeman
I know what you mean. Last summer my family from Chicago came out to visit here in Colorado and I took my sons out fly fishing as often as I could. We decided to meet the rest of the family at a nice restaurant for dinner after a hard day on the water. I'm usually kilted during the summer and especially while fly fishing. Anyway, I parked the car, my sons went inside to use the facilities and I waited by the door for the rest of the crew to show up. A group of four walked up to the door and one of the ladies called out pointing in my direction, "Look hon, they're going to have a bagpiper play tonight."
I whipped around looking for the piper and turned to the lady and said, " Ma'am if you are expecting me to play, you will be sadly disappointed, 'cause I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket." Shocked, she mumbled something about "Why the kilt, then?" At that point my sons walked back out at the tail end of her remark and my oldest son said," Because he's proud of his heritage. How 'bout you?" As all color drained from the four faces the small group edged past the three of us as my sons and I had a three way hug. Dinner was pretty good after that.
Nulty

[wyldathart]

* chuckles
I suspect I'll be getting some curios looks myself the first time I go kilted through town. Lets just say that I live in a small country, bible thumping, non changing town. So anything strange and different is frowned upon. There are some decent folks here but I'm afraid ignorance runs rampant.

[Nighthawk]

I tell people I'm a swordsman- which is true. That seems to satisfy most people.

[Phogfan86]

My standard questions are, "Are you piping today?", and, "Is there a Ren fest or Celtic fair somewhere today?"

[acstoon]

When asked if I'm a piper, I usually respond:
"No... Why?" with a quizzical/deadpan facial expression.
It's funny to watch the reaction beyond that...

[Malcolm MacWilliam]

I am often asked if I'm a piper (actually I do dabble with cauld wind pipes BUT cannot yet call myself a piper!).....and I will reply, "No, I am a kilted soldier!". They look a bit amazed and then my next usual comment is, "All Texans don't wear cowboy hats!". Maybe that answer is too confusing because I'm not sure they get it after that! And, if not, I"ll just go on to explain that we have pipers in our regiment, but we are all musketmen. Which leads into a discussion of 18th century Highland military.

Malcolm MacWm., ASM
www.muskets-of-the-crown.org

[vmac3205]

Fudgeman
I know what you mean. Last summer my family from Chicago came out to visit here in Colorado and I took my sons out fly fishing as often as I could. We decided to meet the rest of the family at a nice restaurant for dinner after a hard day on the water. I'm usually kilted during the summer and especially while fly fishing. Anyway, I parked the car, my sons went inside to use the facilities and I waited by the door for the rest of the crew to show up. A group of four walked up to the door and one of the ladies called out pointing in my direction, "Look hon, they're going to have a bagpiper play tonight."
I whipped around looking for the piper and turned to the lady and said, " Ma'am if you are expecting me to play, you will be sadly disappointed, 'cause I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket." Shocked, she mumbled something about "Why the kilt, then?" At that point my sons walked back out at the tail end of her remark and my oldest son said," Because he's proud of his heritage. How 'bout you?" As all color drained from the four faces the small group edged past the three of us as my sons and I had a three way hug. Dinner was pretty good after that.
Nulty

Hey Nulty,
I'm just curious about one thing. How do they make kilt waders?

[McNulty]

hey Vmac3205
It is no fun to have your kilt in a bunch, so wearing a kilt in your waders is not for the faint of heart. I tried it once and will never do it again During the summer I normally wet wade. The streams out here are best fished near shore where the water is knee high at most. I'll hike up my kilt a tad ( most of my kilts are 22" long) slip on some thin poly-pro socks, my neoprene booties, and finally my wading boots. If you don't wade too far out the water's not deep (though I've taken a couple of spills) and even though the water is cold the sun warms and dries you pretty quick. There is a method to my madness. I'll try to get some pix over the summer and post them.
Nulty

[bricelythgoe]

* chuckles
I suspect I'll be getting some curios looks myself the first time I go kilted through town. Lets just say that I live in a small country, bible thumping, non changing town. So anything strange and different is frowned upon. There are some decent folks here but I'm afraid ignorance runs rampant.

I am in the same boat as you. I am not sure what it is going to be like the first time I actually do it.