# (Politically) Offensive t-shirt opinion: how do you react?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [May 10, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471 "2012-05-10T03:32:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2012, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/21 "2012-05-12T16:38:16Z")
> [@Leaper](#):
>
> Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but feel guilty and cowardly for it, for not at least _trying_ to, er, fight ignorance.
There’s a time and a place for everything, and a queue in a shop wasn’t it.
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### Author:  [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/22 "2012-05-12T16:40:30Z")
> [@msmith537](#):
>
> I don’t react because I’m not a fucking psychopath. If people want to exercise their First Amendment right to say something stupid, that’s their business.
Well, I originally was going to say I’d mind my own business, because you don’t change hearts and minds by picking fights with random strangers at the grocery store. But I’ve always sort of wondered what it’s like to be a psychopath, so now I’m changing my answer to “I’d definitely react.” Raised eyebrow perhaps, or maybe I’d go so far as clearing my throat and loudly saying, “I say, that’s a bit much, isn’t it?”
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/23 "2012-05-12T16:41:41Z")
> [@ethelbert](#):
>
> Having an argument about an issue like this rarely changes anybody’s mind. What is your goal in this situation? I would not likely engage a stranger in a store at all, but if he had started a conversation with me, I would generally try to make a single point that is as non-argumentative as possible. For this situation i use;
>
> You know my nephew is gay. I wasn’t really crazy about it when I first found out, but he is still a good guy, and I love him. All he wants is to be able to live in a committed relationship with the same rights as anyone else.
>
> This will not convince him and he will doubtless come back at you. Just shrug and say, “I’m sorry, but I disagree” and walk off.
>
> The goal is not to have an argument, but to plant a seed.
Wow. That sure beats anything I had come up with. I’ll just say that’s an excellent analysis of the situation!
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### Author:  [@SnakeBabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakeBabe)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/24 "2012-05-12T16:42:24Z")
> [@Leaper](#):
>
> , “Mayday for Marriage” …
How about " Wow, great t shirt. Isn’t the divorce rate among heterosexuals terrible? "
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### Author:  [@scratch\_llll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch_llll)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/25 "2012-05-12T21:08:18Z")
I usually just say something a little sad like “love is a wonderful thing, it’s too bad everyone isn’t allowed to have it.”
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### Author:  [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2012, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/26 "2012-05-12T22:19:39Z")
In general, I don’t make comments about strangers’ clothing.
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### Author:  [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/27 "2012-05-12T23:12:10Z")
I wouldn’t personally say anything, but I wouldn’t look down on anyone who did. And I really don’t think it’s psychopathic to get pissed off by a bigoted t-shirt.
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### Author:  [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/28 "2012-05-12T23:29:26Z")
I guess I should say a little more about why I felt guilty for staying silent (I’m assuming here that those who’re “lecturing” about why it’s bad to say something are talking general situations, and not me in particular - if you did mean me, please reread the OP :)):
I felt like, by staying silent, I was part of (contributing to) the problem of homophobia, that I was just letting it go without consequence by not at least trying to call it out. “First they came for the Jews”, “Silence = Death”, and all that. I was letting something wrong go, and thus perpetuating it.
Again, I realize that I can’t fight the world’s battles, and that doing something would’ve been futile and possibly counterproductive/dangerous for me personally, but emotions are irrational almost by nature, and I’m just explaining where it came from.
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### Author:  [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)
#### Post date: [May 12, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/29 "2012-05-12T23:30:53Z")
To me the issue isn’t so much what side of the question someone (and his shirt) is on, but that they feel compelled to constantly proclaim everywhere they go. Of course it’s their right, and I’m not going to stop them, but it’s irritating. Ah well, as **Mangetout** mentioned it’s a handy guide toward whom to avoid.
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### Author:  [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/30 "2012-05-13T00:02:55Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> Secondly, you have to remember, no matter how “right” you are and how “wrong” the other person is…he feels _exactly_ the same way. Neither of you are going to change each other’s minds. You’re going to get each other all riled up, you’re going to yell at each other for a few minutes, you’re going to make a scene, then you’re both going to stomp off. The likelihood that either of you will change your opinions is pretty slim. It just doesn’t seem like it’s worth the energy. But maybe that’s just me.
That would be my view. You’re not going to change the mind of someone who is opinionated enough about the issue that they would be wearing that shirt in the first place. Everyone will just get angry over nothing.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/31 "2012-05-13T00:30:05Z")
You should see the Osama bin Laden T-shirts that are on sale here. They’re especially popular on lower Sukhumvit Road, where most of the Muslim tourists stay. But some Thais like them too. There’s not a big understanding of world events here.
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### Author:  [@scratch\_llll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch_llll)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/32 "2012-05-13T03:00:53Z")
I wouldn’t mind a Bin Laden T shirt as long as it is up to date with a hole in the forehead and fishes swimming about.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/33 "2012-05-13T04:46:12Z")
These have the twin towers in the background, at the moment of impact.
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### Author:  [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/34 "2012-05-29T14:18:48Z")
I only comment about T-shirts if I think they are funny. This normally means they have a geeky joke of some kind on them.
I like it when the idiots label themselves so the rest of us know what we are dealing with, though.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/35 "2012-05-29T14:36:17Z")
I wouldn’t comment on the shirt, but if on leaving the store I noted that he was having car trouble I wouldn’t offer assistance.
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### Author:  [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/36 "2012-05-29T14:59:33Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#):
>
> People who advertise their crazy are more likely (in my mind, at least) to be rude, nasty, and quicker to get violent when someone disagrees with them.
Yeah, this.
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### Author:  [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/37 "2012-05-29T15:21:11Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#):
>
> Maybe some people want to exercise their First Amendment right to tell bigots that they’re bigots.
I find it difficult to believe that someone who would wear an anti-gay marriage T-shirt only holds that opinion because he hasn’t been called a bigot enough.
Regards,
Shodan
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### Author:  [@whatever\_name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatever_name)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/38 "2012-05-29T15:27:25Z")
> [@Leaper](#):
>
> A guy in front of me in line at a store was wearing a t-shirt for a “Mayday for Marriage” event. I knew I couldn’t assume it was an \*anti-\*gay marriage event (though I was pretty sure it was, and Google later proved me right), not to mention the fact that it’s really not prudent to get into a shouting match at a store with a random stranger (AND pointless, since if you’re wearing the shirt in public, you probably aren’t going to be swayed by someone you don’t know tapping your shoulder and expressing his opinion), so I said nothing.
>
> Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but feel guilty and cowardly for it, for not at least _trying_ to, er, fight ignorance. Has anyone else in a similar situation ever reacted differently?
No need to give him the time of day if you don’t want. you can pretend you didn’t see it. I stand by the first amendment. so whatever works for you I guess.
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### Author:  [@papaford81](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papaford81)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/39 "2012-05-29T15:49:18Z")
Judgmental scowls work well. :mad:
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### Author:  [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politically-offensive-t-shirt-opinion-how-do-you-react/621471/40 "2012-05-29T16:16:50Z")
> [@Leaper](#):
>
> Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but feel guilty and cowardly for it, for not at least _trying_ to, er, fight ignorance. Has anyone else in a similar situation ever reacted differently?
This would not be fighting ignorance, it would be being a jackass. For all you know it was a borrowed shirt, or he was a gay guy wearing it ironically, or who the hell knows what. It’s a shirt, not a person.
Even if he was everything you assumed he was, you’re not going to initiate a thoughtful, reasoned discussion in the checkout line. The odds are much, much greater it just leads to “Fuck you,” “No, fuck _you_!” and both of you walk away more determined tan ever not to change your minds.
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