Postman denied Right to Wear the Kilt
Recently I received a comment asking that I cover the USPS postman who wanted to be able to wear the kilt while delivering mail. This story recently made NPR, the Boston Globe, and The Seattle Times after postal worker Dean Peterson, of Lacey, Washington State, USA, lobbied the National Association of Letter Carriers in Boston to include a “Male Unbifricated Garment” among the approved uniform choices for all male US Postal Service workers.
Dean Peterson, who wears the kilt for comfort rather than as a symbol of his heritage, spent his entire $1,800 tax rebate check mailing his proposal to fellow postmen prior to the conference. He also won supportive resolutions from postal workers guilds in both Washington state and Oregon. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful at winning majority support for the creation and acceptance of a postal kilt due to concerns about “safety”. This despite the fact that female postal workers may wear skirts.
Mr. Peterson, also a retired Master Sargent from the US Airforce, began wearing the kilt three years ago when his wife bought him one on a holiday to Scotland. He loved it because of its comfortable and airy nature and now owns 17 different kilts. According to his letter, “Unbifurcated Garments are far more comfortable and suitable to male anatomy than trousers or shorts, because they don’t confine the legs or cramp the male genitals the way that trousers or shorts do.” His plea to fellow postmen included a sample picture of what a postal kilt might ultimately look like, which was a Utilikilts Survival model with its side pockets snapped off.
Long have men been subject to the poor and limited choices offered by the Trouser Tyrants. Pants are dead! Long Live the Kilt!
August 2nd, 2008 at 7:00 pm
If females can wear skirts then I smell a discrimination lawsuit in the future.
August 4th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Good for him, hey its a free country you can wear whatever the heck you want to so long as you dont cross your legs with a hem that is too short okay buddy! And please don’t wear a see through kilt without a slip! Love ya! Oh, no kilts please on the construction sites, you dont want any chicks whistling.
August 15th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Maybe it’s a safety issue because dogs find naked calves irresistible. But that would not explain the skirt and shorts. I wish him luck.
Kilt on!
August 20th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
As a kilt wearer I have been told varying things in my office about wearing a kilt from “why not” to “that doesn’t comply with the dress policy”.
I wear mine as often as I can and proudly not only becuase of my heritage but for comfort as well.
I wish Mr. Peterson luck in getting this approved one day so that all of us kilt wearers can do so more freely.
March 12th, 2009 at 8:02 am
This is quite strange. Here we have a gentleman who served his country to uphold freedom of choice and yet when he desires to enjoy his freedom of choice, the government which thinks nothing of him being killed in battle , would deny him this single right. This postman is correct on all fronts concerning the wearing of a kilt: Men need the air flow when walking especially when carrying the mail. The health issue concerning the air freedom between the knees is required of men and boys. How do I know all this, I wear a kilt out in public .
Can you imagine a woman wanted to wear a particular type of clothing and the government denied it. There would be pig squeals from flaming feminist through the land. Our postal govenment: Hum-bug!!!