AITA for NOT telling a church lady her shirt’s obscene?

r/

Okay, I know you’re probably thinking I’m asking if I was TA for not shaming someone over their clothes but I promise it’s not that. I’m all for people wearing whatever makes them happy.

This is something totally different.

Alright, so here’s the deal. I have this regular customer. She’s in several times a week- will call her Viv (fake name). She’s a very nice older woman but just a bit…um…I’m gonna say naïve.

She came in on Saturday and we were chatting and I noticed her shirt and laughed…it kinda threw me for a loop because she’s pretty church-y and conservative. I’ve never even heard this woman cuss and most times she comes in the talk turns to her church.

So this shirt she was wearing had ‘Don’t be a’ and then a picture of a, ahem, ‘rooster’ and a lollipop…

Guys…she thought it meant don’t be a chicken or a sucker.

It’s not a chicken and there’s no ‘or a’.

This woman is a 60-something church lady. I didn’t know what to say so I just smiled and nodded and ended up saying nothing. But now I’m
Feeling guilty.

So am I TA for not letting a nice little church lady know her shirts swearing
Like a sailor?

Comments

  1. DoomWedge Avatar

    If she’s that conservative … you sure she doesn’t know what it means?

  2. peakpenguins Avatar

    I can practically guarantee she would have just gotten mad at you for telling her. NTA.

  3. t-mckeldin Avatar

    The rule is, you only tell people about unfortunate wardrobe happenings if and when they can do something about it. And you do it without drawing attention from others. As there is nothing that she could have done at that moment, you were right to keep your silence.

  4. jrm1102 Avatar

    NAH – well. Youre not obligated to tell her. And she chose to wear it.

  5. Slalom44 Avatar

    NTA, but eventually someone is going to tell her what it says and she will be embarrassed to look you in the face again.

  6. Hairy-Proof8504 Avatar

    NTA. Hilarious! Let her be.

  7. Common_Word_8082 Avatar

    You are not obligated to be thot police, lol.

  8. Important_Power_2148 Avatar

    There is a corollary to “A closed mouth gathers no foot” and “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” Its “Let someone else be the asshole.”

  9. Ok-Fuel-3623 Avatar

    NTA. This is gold. Let her live her best life in ignorant bliss. But also she’d probs be offended if you had said something cause you know, this young generation will turn everything so that it’s obscene! (I say it dramatically sarcastic).

  10. DesertSong-LaLa Avatar

    NTA – You’re not obligated to inform others on shirt slogans; just smile. What would you gain from an uncomfortable conversation with a client?

  11. chxnkybxtfxnky Avatar

    NTA, but I would have told her for sure. As gently as possible, of course

  12. HudsonBunny Avatar

    No, if she’s not a friend or relative it wasn’t your place. Someone will tell her.

    Related story: A close friend of mine, very religious, for a while would call her child “that little dildo.” She just thought it was a funny word. I kept biting my tongue but when no one else would tell her I finally did. Fortunately she just got a hearty laugh out of it.

  13. Blue_Etalon Avatar

    NTAH – zero upside to telling someone that. The messenger will always be blamed.

  14. DaddysStormyPrincess Avatar

    Did Jesus say that? Don’t be a €ock sucker??

  15. Confident_Success977 Avatar

    NTA…This one is the same as if they actually knew it was offensive to you or others. It’s not your business what other wear and if you had said anything she would most likely dug in.

  16. zornmagron Avatar

    wow priceless hopefully she has a grandchild or a family member that can let her in on the joke..but nah your good not your job to explain something like that

  17. Witty-Moment8471 Avatar

    NTA.
    She’s too much of a stranger. Hopefully, someone will set her straight.

    I used to know a pastor’s wife. Her daughters died inside when they realized she’d been using the word ‘queef’ in replacement of a tiny fart (like a toot).

    Thankfully, they set her straight but not before she’d used the word multiple times within the church community.

  18. Wonderful-Put-2453 Avatar

    Maybe she comes from the dumbest “anti-gay” church ever.

  19. NanaLeonie Avatar

    Just let me enjoy my comfortable shirt.

  20. icecreampenis Avatar

    Someone else will tell her. It was smart not to put the target on your own back. NTA.

  21. Trvlng_Drew Avatar

    Someone who doesn’t know her will naively get their head blown off, but not you and not today

  22. Refnom95 Avatar

    Wait so is the picture of a chicken or not? You initially said ‘rooster’ which I thought meant it WAS a chicken (hence ‘cock’) but then it said it’s not a chicken??

  23. TravelingSouxie Avatar

    This is one of those “do I tell someone they have spinach in their teeth” or “their fly is down” or “TP hanging out of their waistband” type situations.

    Personally, I would gently and discreetly tell her in a non-accusatory manner for the reason of avoiding her future embarrassment. Someone may tell her who wouldn’t be so kind.

  24. lumpytrail Avatar

    Let her grandkids continue their fun… don’t spoil their game… she’s playing along.

  25. Super-String3030 Avatar

    Would you like someone to tell you that you are wearing a shirt with a message you misunderstood and makes you look stupid? Or you’d rather look stupid while wearing the shirt and no one tells you a thing?

  26. No_Secret_4560 Avatar

    I absolutely would have told her. I would hate for this nice lady to walk around thinking this shirt was just a cute or funny picture while people stand there giggling at her and talking behind her back. She may get upset with you but I can assure you she is most likely upset because she’d be embarrassed and upset because no one told her and she was walking around like that.

    Like this:
    Hey “name”! How are you? That’s a cute shirt. What does the picture mean?” If she says it means cocksucker then you just say “cool” and go one with your day. If she says it’s just a shirt she got at the thrift store with a funny rooster with a lollipop, you’ll know she has no idea. That’s when you explain it.

    It’s kind of like walking around smiling at everyone while having something obvious stuck to your teeth or having something in your nose that you finally see in the mirror or someone finally tells you about. You get irritated that you have walked around talking to people with that going on and no one bothered to tell you.

    Well, I’m the one who tells you.

  27. JJQuantum Avatar

    NTA. She would have blamed you, not the shirt.

  28. CreepyFun9860 Avatar

    Church people go to church knowing full well their gods a piece of shit.

    Who cares.

  29. Puzzleheaded-Desk846 Avatar

    I was in church once and had the misfortune of being a couple of rows behind a teen boy and his grandparents. He was wearing a Tshirt with the number 69 on the back. I wish I’d had the ovaries back then to tell them both what the meaning of the kid’s shirt was. I would tell Church Lady in a kind and gentle manner.

  30. Tw1ch1e Avatar

    NTA…. Knowing a churchy conservative walks around wearing that shirt would keep me smiling for the week! Consequences of embracing being an idiot.