A woman has been shamed for asking a burns victim to cover up at the beach.
In a post on Reddit, a 37-year-old dad explained that his 17-year-old son was involved in a car accident several years ago that left him with "serious burns all over his shoulder and torso."
"He's had skin graft surgeries on more affected areas," he explained. "His scars are still pretty visible so that's something he's been very self-conscious about. It took him lots of time in therapy until he was able to even look at himself in the mirror."
Over time, his son has become "more comfortable" with his appearance and "can look at himself again."
But the only thing he hadn't yet overcome was being topless in public, so they decided to go to the beach to work on his confidence.
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Although the dad noticed a few people "staring and pointing", his son was able to brush it off and took no notice.
But one woman took things a step further and approached the father and son, asking "in a fake sweet voice" whether he would "mind putting his shirt back on."
While she insisted she didn't have a problem with it, she said that the scars were "too visible to ignore," and that "some of the kids are a little freaked out by it."
To his surprise, his son told the woman that they could "look somewhere else" instead of at his scars if it's that much of a problem.
But this irritated the woman, who looked to the dad in the hopes that he would "do something" about it.
"I pretty much said the same thing," he wrote. "If the kids are so freaked out about it maybe now is a good time to show them not everybody is the same and it's nothing to be scared of."
The woman refused to let it go, however, so the dad gave her a piece of his mind.
"I told her it's people like her that made it so hard for him to be comfortable in his own body so why doesn't she shut the f*** up and get out of my face, if it bothers her so much," he said.
She stormed off and eventually left with her family, he said.
"I’ve never had an interaction with someone like that before, let alone cussed at a total stranger. Yes I know how kids can be so maybe for hers they found it scary, but also this whole thing made me go into protective papa bear mode knowing what my son has gone through."
He concluded his post by asking Reddit users whether he'd taken it a step too far in how he treated her, but everyone was on his side.
One person said: "She was saying it in a polite tone, but that doesn't mean it's polite. There's a difference. The polite thing to do would have been to tell the kids what you said, that everyone is different, and there's nothing to be scared or ashamed of."
Another wrote: "That woman should be ashamed of herself. But you should be REALLY PROUD of your son, who handled this beautifully."
A third commented: "She asked politely, your son declined politely. And so did you.
"The audacity of this woman to do anything other than WALK AWAY and mind her own business...appalling."
Someone else put: "Man, if my kid was curious about someone with scars I’d just explain 'yeah they must have had an accident or something. They’re probably lucky they survived and still get to go to the beach!'. And knowing her she’d say 'ok' and move on. I can’t even begin to imagine telling someone at the beach to cover up!"
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