Is Pat Robertson losing his mind?

[The Lone Ranger]

Greetings, all! I just popped in for a quick look 'round.

Originally Posted by Ari

Never, never, never never never go up to a scot, especially one in full patriotic dress and ask, "Aren't you from england?" Unless you would like some free dental surgery. I think that's right up there with, "Nice skirt, you get that from your wife?" to a Scotsman in a kilt.

Back when I was living in the East, I used to attend the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in North Carolina each summer. One year, I was driving up to the games when I had to stop for gas. So, I got out of the car, pumped the gas, then when into the store to get a drink and pay for the gas -- all the while wearing a full kilt.

I noticed that the guy at the counter was staring at me rather openly, but he didn't say anything at first. Finally, he could hold back no longer apparently, and said, "I don't mean to be rude, but are you Amish?"

True story, I swear.

Cheers,

Michael

[livius drusus]

Originally Posted by The Lone Ranger

Greetings, all! I just popped in for a quick look 'round.

Hi Michael! How's the dissertation going?

Finally, he could hold back no longer apparently, and said, "I don't mean to be rude, but are you Amish?"

That's beautiful. Did you answer something pithy about having just gassed up your horse and buggy?

[The Lone Ranger]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

Hi Michael! How's the dissertation going?

Hello yourself!
Slowly, alas, but my advisor should be back sometime next week, and if all goes well, we'll have the (more or less) final version completed next week and send it out to the rest of my committee for review. Figure about 2 weeks to let them look it over and make any suggestions, and then I'll defend. With luck, I'll be officially done by mid- to late-September.

At this point, I'm more than ready to be done!

Sadly, there have been a few . . . complications . . . in my life over the past couple of months, which have kept me kinda busy, so let's just say that I'm anticipating being much happier this time next year! By then, I'll hopefully have a good job and financial stability, be able to get more than a few hours' sleep a night, catch up on some long-neglected duties -- like hiking and camping, reading good books, writing, etc., etc. (Yay!)

That's beautiful. Did you answer something pithy about having just gassed up your horse and buggy?

Considering we were literally only a few miles from Grandfather Mountain, where the Highland Games are a major event and are held every year, it was astonishing to me that he apparently hadn't seen lots of guys going around in kilts before he encountered me. (Of course, he might have just moved there from somewhere else.) Even more astonishing, of course, was that he apparently didn't know what a kilt was and what sorts of people tend to wear them.

I was kinda pleased that I managed to keep a perfectly straight face and that I neither laughed out loud nor blurted out the comment that leaped to mind about how the Amish are not known either for wearing kilts or for driving automobiles. Instead, I politely informed him that I wasn't Amish at all, that I was there for the Highland Games, and that I was wearing a "kilt" -- traditional Scottish Highlands dress. He seemed to find that information quite interesting.

It was definitely kind of a Twilight Zone moment to be sure.


Still, it's not the first time that I've walked into a store in rural North Carolina while wearing a kilt. I've gotten stares, of course, but I've never been laughed at or challenged. This has lead me to formulate Michael's Law #7: "So long as you look confident and self-assurred, few people will dare to challenge your right to do anything." (It may help, as some of my companions have pointed out, that I apparently can look sort of intimidating. I find that vastly amusing, for some reason, since I'm just-about the least aggressive person who ever lived.)

Cheers,

Michael

[Dingfod]

Originally Posted by The Lone Ranger

I find that vastly amusing, for some reason, since I'm just-about the least aggressive person who ever lived.)

You could always smack 'em with their cane or kick their walker out from under them.

* Dingfod grins... and runs


* Dingfod knows Tai Chi
* Dingfod can kick your ass in six or seven hours

[D. Scarlatti]

I'd take the Scots very seriously. Their actual history proves them to be murderous, bloodthirsty bastards who'd climb over mountains to slay you in your sleep. And that's when they're sober.