Captain's Corner

Now I don’t want to mention any names, but a few people have said that Texas is no place to wear a kilt–that there is just too much of a cultural discrepancy. For those people (and you know who you are), this entry is for you.

Monday, my day off, I make the trek out towards Firewheel Town Center to make a run to SAM’s Club for my wife. I figure heck, it’s my day off, I’ll wear my kilt and my bagpipes shirt. So Ann meets me at SAM’s and we start shopping. Then the weirdest thing happened… three times.

1. A guy stops me and asks if I’m Scottish or Irish and I inform him that I’m of Scotch-Irish decent, but born here in America. He asks if I ever go to any of the Celtic/Gaelic festivals around Dallas. I explain that I’m new in town and he proceeds to give me a rough schedule of when they happen. He also tells me that he sings in a Irish, Scottish, and Australian folk music band and that they play at Trinity Hall @ Mockingbird Station the first Saturday of every month. I thank him for the invitation and the kind words about the kilt and continue perusing the frozen foods.

2. As we check out the cashier supervisor comes up and asks my favorite question, “Is that a kilt?” To which I always want to reply, “Well, it was supposed to be a mini-skirt but I never paid much attention in home-ec.” Anyways, I assure her that it is a kilt, and we are all of a sudden talking about our heritage (she’s also Scotch-Irish), where are families are from and when they came to America, etc…

and then:

3. Ann and I stop for a hotdog on the way out of SAM’s. We almost always do this, there’s just something about those giant kosher hotdogs that we love. So as I’m returning from throwing away the trash from our lunch I am stopped by a black man who appears to be a construction worker. “Great,” I think to myself… this can’t be going anywhere good. Imagine my surprise when he says, “Nice kilt. Where could I get something like that?” After my mind tries to catch up with what just happened (for those of you who missed it, an african-american male in Texas, who apparently works in construction asked me where to buy a kilt), I start reaching for my wallet where I keep a few business cards for Utilikilt. I hand him one, let him know that they are out of Seattle and make sure he sees the website on the side of the card. He smiles, thanks me for my time and Ann and I head out of SAM’s…

So, for a state (or country as some people still seem to see it) that I initially thought would be unfriendly towards the kilt, just during my routine shopping I struck up three conversations with complete strangers, one of which I will probably see again at either the Celtic festivals or Trinity Hall while he’s playing… So the kilt helps make friends with complete strangers… who may or may not be religious… **wink, wink, nod, nod, say no more, say no more**

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