AITA for telling some teenagers to go f themselves?’
A 27-year-old woman attended a ballgame where a group of teenagers openly mocked her for her weight (size 16). When confronted, one teen bluntly told her she was fat, to which she responded, “Well, you can go f*** yourself.” The teens were shocked and alerted their parents, who then berated her, with one even calling her a “bitch.”
She defended her response, saying that if the kids were old enough to mock people, they were old enough to handle the consequences. Afterward, she moved to a different spot to avoid further confrontation but is now questioning whether she should have handled the situation differently.
‘ AITA for telling some teenagers to go f themselves?’
I was out at a ballgame today, and a couple of teenagers were openly mocking my weight (yes, I am overweight but not clinically obese. Size 16 women’s for reference)
I challenged them on it and asked them to repeat themselves to me, one decided to tell me that I’m fat.
I responded saying “well you can go f**k yourself,” which got an immediate reaction of shock from them. They got their parents’ attention and told them what happened, and immediately I had 3 adults about twice my age or older (I’m 27) yelling at me, telling me that it was inappropriate, and one even called me a b**ch.
I responded saying “if your brats are old enough to mock people to their faces, they’re old enough to deal with the consequences of it.” Not long after, I decided to move over to standing space for the rest of the game so as not to deal with the looks and huffs for the last few innings.
So now, looking back on it, not sure if I’m ta for telling them to go f**k themselves. On the one hand, I probably should have been the adult in the situation and brushed it off, on the other, teenagers tend to be used to getting away with acting like assholes to people. If they were adults, I’d have had no qualms about telling them to f**k off. AITA?
Take a look at the comments from fellow users:
ggcc789 − NTA. Whatever your weight is, no one deserves to be mocked for it. Also, adults calling you a b**ch? The only thing that shocks me about this is the teens being upset by being told to eff themselves. Surprised that got any sort of reaction from them.
Lumpy_Magazine_4559 − NTA. And those adults can also go f**k themselves.
WhyCommentQueasy − NTA, I suspect the parents behavior is a clue as to why their children thought it would be nice to wander around insulting strangers.
Bethsmom05 − NTA. The parents made it obvious why the teens have such n**ty personalities.
Head-Emotion-4598 − NTA at all. If I found out that one of my kids had behaved like that, I would have made them apologize, grounded them/taken away all electronics AND told them to f\*ck off myself! As a mom of teens (that also deals with being over weight) I would be so angry and mortified by their behavior. I’m so sorry you had to deal with that.
SigSauerPower320 − NTA. They got exactly what they deserved. Their parents s**k at being parents if they think it’s okay to call you out and not punish their ah kids.
[Reddit User] − Ganging up on you and calling you a b**ch? Can see where they get that behaviour from! NTA – probably would have been better ways to go if deescalation was the goal… but given the parents reaction it was either going to continue, and they’d have bullied you til you just walked away, or escalated til parents got involved.
phazedout1971 − related tale (hey it’s how us neurodivergetns show empathy) there were some teenagers on the trian behind me acting like.. well, teenagers, being assholes and one of them started playing some of what sounded like game sounds on their phone, I’d had a REALLY fuckign long day.
been goign for 14 hours and i stood up and turned aroudn and said, loudly and angrily “either plug headphones in or turn the soudn off” and sat back down, they looked stunned and stopped it. Guess some teens have been educated.. oh and definitely NTA
liftsomethingheavy − a couple of teenagers were openly mocking my weight (yes, I am overweight but not clinically obese
Would mocking be justified if you _were_ clinically obese?. Aside from that, obviously NTA.
PotentialFarm1400 − NTA- they deserved it. I TRY to ignore teenagers when they get rude and obnoxious like this. They’re mostly looking for a reaction and attention. In the end they ended up with some “entertainment” in their minds. Teenagers are brutal, sorry you had this encounter.
Was she justified in standing up for herself, or did she go too far by swearing at the teens? Is it always necessary to “be the bigger person,” or should young people face real consequences for their behavior? What would you have done in her situation? Share your perspective in the comments!
