Fortunately, ridicule isn’t fatal! If you spot someone wearing a T-shirt that catches your eye at the airport, it’s because they’ve fallen for this new concept making the rounds on social media. It’s a challenge that involves wearing a shirt chosen by a friend, often quite conspicuous and hard to ignore. The Washington Post recently interviewed several people who took part in this trend.
Take Kate Swenson, a 43-year-old mother who, while traveling with friends, had to wear a T-shirt reading: “posez-moi des questions sur ma diarrhée explosive”. The only rule was to wear it for the entire first day, even if it made her uncomfortable. “I just remember the laughter, then regrets, then more laughter.” Some of her friends had to wear T-shirts proclaiming that they “transpiraient à des endroits inhabituels”, that they “arboraient des piercings corporels insolites”, or that they “avaient besoin d’un énorme cocktail”.
Following that, they recounted being tapped on the hand by flight attendants and laughing from strangers. Their social media post has racked up more than 83 million views on Instagram to date, and the friends said they felt “like celebrities” after being recognized on their Florida-departing cruise.
A Fun Challenge, but with Boundaries to Respect
Aarya Patel, who also took on the challenge by wearing a T-shirt that read “j’ai fait caca aujourd’hui”, said it was “a way to set the tone for the trip.” “We were finishing finals at that time. It helped us forget all that and focus on the trip”, she claimed. However, one should not forget that some airlines may refuse to transport passengers wearing clothing deemed indecent or offensive, in accordance with their terms of carriage.
That’s why one shouldn’t stretch their imagination too far. Paul Davis, a social-media and online-safety trainer based in Toronto, warned on his professional Facebook page against the “hypersexualized, aggressive and degrading” versions of this airport-shirt exchange and spoke to parents about them. He finds it cute, but only “within the bounds of good taste.”
He feared that compromising videos could harm some people and prevent them from obtaining a scholarship or a job, or that problematic clothing could trigger real-life conflicts. He also stressed that jokes about shirts referencing weapons are never a good idea. “I’d rather be cautious,” Davis said. “I remind kids every day that the Internet never forgets, and that, since it never forgets, it can be merciless”, he concluded.
