AITA for telling a lady at the water park that I don't care about her kids?
I (25f) was at a water park with my friends. My friends and I had planned it for a while. They drove from different parts of the state so that we could go to this specific water park.
So I have tattoos—a lot of them. My right arm has a whole sleeve, and my left is a half sleeve. I was wearing a bikini like most other women at the park, so my tattoos were pretty exposed. Most of the day went fine, but while making our way to one of the rides to wait in line, a lady walking the opposite way stopped me. She asked how I could be showing my tattoos with so many kids around.
Tattoos are so ordinary and less stigmatized that it didn't even occur to me that someone could get offended by them. It immediately clicked that I was dealing with some Karen so I told her that my tattoos were awesome and I wanted to show them off. She did not like that answer. She told me that her kids shouldn't see people like me who are branded and going to hell because God doesn't want sinners with tattoos in heaven.
I told her that she had two solutions. She and her kids could stay home and never go outside, or she can put a blindfold on her kids if she's so worried about them seeing sinners. She called me a rude b*tch and that I should cover up my indecent body. I know she was talking about my tattoos, but as someone who has dealt with body issues because I struggled with obesity my whole life, and it wasn't until a few years ago that I was able to reach a healthy weight, being told that my body was indecent struck a nerve.
I told her that I didn't give a f*ck about what her kids saw and that she should learn how not to be such a stupid C***. She looked at me, horrified. She dragged her kids away while yelling at me that she would tell security about me and get me kicked out. Spoiler: nothing happened.
My friends were with me and said I could have handled the situation better. I disagree. Yes, she was unreasonable but sometimes avoiding trouble is more straightforward than not cause a scene. She shouldn't have stopped a random stranger at a water park. AITA, reddit?
NTA (Not the A**hole).
Sometimes you just need to tell someone to f*ck off.
NTA. You have every right to talk back to someone who speaks to you in this manner. She was ridiculously out of line.
NTA
I think she would have blasted you for any way you handled it. So might as well get a few jabs in as well.
She's at a water park - did she expect to see everyone in 1910's bathing costumes where barely a knee would be seen? It is also highly inappropriate to comment on anyone's body, let alone a stranger.
I don't think Jesus cares about what's tattooed on your skin. I think she may find out the hard way that he sure does manage when someone's got hate tattooed on their heart.