Reading in a public place can be a super fun activity - it gives you serious main character energy and makes you look mysterious and interesting to all who lay eyes on you.
That’s what one woman was doing, minding her own business and reading, when someone else approached, telling her that the book she was reading was ‘inappropriate.’
The woman took to Reddit to recall the horrific incident she’d recently remembered after picking up the same book from her shelf, and she felt anxious just looking at it.
Before discussing the incident, the woman gave some details about her life, explaining she was near deaf in her right ear and dimming in her left from major ear infections when she was a child. As a result, she suffers from social anxiety as she cannot hear herself speak well, so speaks softly or not at all.
She wrote: “I was out on my day off, drawing the water and some wildlife near a lovely lake not far from my place and checking out the sailing ships there too (I'm a maritime and sailing ship nerd).
What do you think about the woman's incident? Let us know in the comments...
“Afterward, I went into a nearby restaurant to eat and enjoy the book I'm reading at the moment, which is "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville.
“Now bear in mind, I was sitting to my right side facing the exit of the booth and barely heard anyone and didn't pay attention to anyone but my nice waiter who complimented on my choice of reading, as it's a true classic literature tale!
“Halfway into an intriguing part, I got a tap on my shoulder. I look up to see a normal-looking lady, but with not very good lipstick on. She seems a bit shocked and I'm confused.”
She then described how the stranger accused her of reading 'porn' and demanded she hand over the classic tale.
After the trauma of a seriously unnecessary confrontation, the woman picked up her book and hid it behind her back as the aggressor demanded she hand it over.
The woman then said the stranger started shouting for the manager and demanded that they take action.
Unsurprisingly, this led to the woman getting banned, while the woman looking for a little peace was offered an apology from the manager.
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Who knew so much drama could occur over a piece of classical literature?
Other Redditors jumped to the original poster’s defence, with one writing: “Welcome to the Land of the Astonishingly Stupid!”
Another hilariously wrote: “I have to wonder what kind of mind would see that book and think 'porn' rather than 'long, convoluted novel about a crazy sea captain and an albino sperm whale?’ Oops, I said sperm. It must be porn!”
A disgruntled user said: “This makes me think of a quote from Mark Twain — 'The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.'
"This entitled woman should spend more time reading and less time trying to police what other people are reading.”
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