Separate Adventures - Day 15
His tour ended up in the Old Schoolhouse bar. It really was an old schoolhouse that was converted. They were seated outside under what looked like greenhouses, completed lit up by strings of lights on the ceiling. Cool enough, but their guide told then about an even better converted bar, a cathedral.
I had wondered about all these cathedrals left in Scotland. I know it was once a strong Catholic region, but today it's mostly Christian. Yet, when you think Scotland, I imagine you think of highlands, castles, and cathedrals. That is mostly still true, but technically, those under the Church of Scotland are not cathedrals since they are not governed by bishops. So my next question was, what did they do with all of them? I'm sure some were just converted into churches for a different faith, but all of them? Some were converted to hotels, museums, but I think Òran Mór takes the cake as a restaurant and bar.
Anyway, Pedro also learned something interesting during his cab ride home. Pedro is very formal, always addressing people as mam or sir. This is pretty common in the States. He called the driver a sir, and instantly was told, "we don't do that here."
The driver explained that in Scotland, calling people mam or sir is not showing a sign of respect like in America. In Scotland it puts people on a pedestal. In Scotland, everyone is equal. Treated equal, addressed as equal, and seen as equal. As someone from America, I have my doubts about the validity of that, but I hope it's true.
P.S. My mom brought up that this may be because of indentured servitude in Scotland's history; only masters were called sir or mam.
