It was a quiet morning in Richardson, Texas, when Andy Ternay and his partner walked into the First Watch café, eager for some breakfast. The restaurant was buzzing with customers enjoying their meals, but something quickly changed when the manager approached them.
The manager, with a serious expression, told Andy and his partner they needed to leave. “I’m sorry, but we’ve had complaints about your shirt,” she said. Andy was confused. Why was his shirt causing a problem? The shirt had bold statements: “FUCK TRUMP AND FUCK YOU FOR VOTING FOR HIM” on the front and “FUCK THE RACIST ALT-RIGHT” on the back.
Andy wasn’t one to back down easily. He decided to share the incident on Facebook. “First, we were approached by a manager who let us know that customers were very distressed by my shirt and that children might see it,” he wrote. “I expressed deep sympathies and let her know that explaining ‘grab ‘em by the pussy’ and golden showers to my daughter was equally unpleasant.”
To Andy, the shirt was just a way to express his opinions. He didn’t see how it was any worse than the offensive things people hear on the news every day. “I didn’t see any problem with my shirt,” Andy said. “We had already been served drinks and made our orders. So why kick us out now?”
But the situation didn’t end there. Just as Andy and his partner were getting comfortable, a cook came over and told them they had to leave. The tension in the restaurant was rising. “We ask to tip our server, get drinks to go, and leave,” Andy wrote. As they walked out, one table of white people actually applauded them.
Once outside, a Black server from the café approached Andy. “I just wanted to let you know I quit,” she told him. Andy was shocked. “Why?” he asked. She responded, “You should hear these people asking not to be seated near Muslims.” That’s when Andy realized just how deep the divisions were around him.
Later, in an interview with The Daily Beast, Andy said that people of color had actually complimented his shirt. “A Latino lady at the register thanked me. Two African American servers said my shirt was awesome,” Andy explained. He wore the shirt to stand up for people who often feel marginalized.
“I don’t want people of color, Muslims, LGBTQ people, immigrants to feel alone,” Andy said. “The right use of white male privilege is to help lift others, to speak truth to power.”
The situation wasn’t over yet. After leaving the restaurant, Andy found himself face to face with a police officer in the parking lot. “I stop the car and ask the officer if she is here because of my t-shirt,” Andy wrote.
The officer nodded. She asked his name, but Andy politely refused to give it. “I cited Cohen v. California (1971), in which the Supreme Court upheld the right to wear a t-shirt saying ‘FUCK THE DRAFT,’” Andy explained. The officer, now frustrated, said, “Just leave, okay?”
The restaurant’s corporate office later responded, explaining the situation. “We asked the gentleman to leave in response to complaints from families with young children about the language on his shirt,” the statement said. “We understand our customers’ discomfort and decided to refuse service.
This decision is no different from not allowing children into R-rated movies.” They added that the decision had nothing to do with race or political statements. “This is about vulgar language, not politics or the color of people’s skin.”
Despite the incident, Andy didn’t want to hold a grudge against the restaurant. He wasn’t planning to boycott them. But his Facebook post went viral, quickly gaining over 42,000 shares. The responses that moved him the most came from the African American community.
“I’ve received heartbreaking messages from African Americans saying they’ve lost faith in their white neighbors,” Andy told The Daily Beast. “They no longer feel like their neighbors have their back. My shirt was meant to reassure them that they’re not alone.”
Share your thoughts in the comments!
