The dad says the suit — which he included screenshots of — left little to the imagination, before he hit back at being called “jealous” and a “prude” in an update on the original post.
A man has taken to the internet for advice after his son’s risque swimsuit sparked family drama on a cruise.
The story, posted to Reddit’s anonymous “Am I the A-Hole” forum, saw the father detail a trip to the Caribbean during which his 18-year-old son’s bathing suit led to concern … as well as accusations from Redditors that the OP (a.k.a. the “original poster”) was a “prude.”
While many said the teen should be able to wear what he wants, quite a few changed their minds after seeing a photo of the suit in question.
Read on to see the full story and how Redditors reacted.
“My wife and I and our son Jax (18M) went on a week-long Caribbean cruise right after his school ended,” OP began, saying his son is a “great kid” who has “TOO MUCH confidence.” He also said it was a “very family cruise” with passengers of “all ages,” including “lots of people our age, many older folks, lots of little kids, and other kids his age as well.”
“He’s the most self assured guy in the world. It’s not unfounded, he’s great looking and athletic and definitely a ‘Mr Personality’ type, but still a bit goes a long way,” OP continued. “He’s also something of an exhibitionist I think, which brings us to the problem. Usually he’s so charming it seems harmless and he gets away with it but in this case not so.”
The trouble came after the ship took off and they got ready to go to the pool for the first time.
“Let’s just say his swimsuit was NOT appropriate. At all. Definitely a ‘flaunt it’ type of suit,” said OP, who claimed his son told him he brought “NOTHING” else for the trip. The dad then demanded the teen go to a store on board the ship and buy something else.
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“He protested. I won. He went to a store and came back and got ready to go again but he had bought another speedo-style suit that was a lot better than what he had before but still not appropriate. And of course he couldn’t return a swimsuit,” said the frustrated father. Eventually, the teen “reluctantly” went to the store and purchased “PROPER” swim shorts.
“He whined about it, begged to wear his original, but I said no,” said OP. “As I said I have to admire his confidence as he would have no issue being at the pool like that and will chat up girls all day long (he is a shameless flirt) but there’s a time and place.”
The dad said his son was “mad at him and said I made him waste $100+ on two new suits he didn’t need,” before insisting he didn’t want to “ruin his vacation,” but wanted the teen “to be decent.”
He then included a screenshot of the suit in question, an Aussie Bum brand swim brief which boasted “maximum sheerness when wet,” “high leg cuts for a daring look” and an “enhancing pouch to lift and keep everything front and center for an eye-catching profile.” The ad also said the briefs had no lining and “maximizes detail,” meaning “no one will be guessing” about what’s going on inside the suit.
“So AITA and should I have just let him wear what he wanted?”
The responses were all over the place, as the commenters believed the dad shouldn’t have put up a fuss over the Speedo … while agreeing the original Aussie Bum suit wasn’t exactly family-friendly.
“[Everybody Sucks Here]. If he was wearing that ‘sheer when wet’ business, you saved him being charged with indecent exposure and your whole family possibly being put off the ship at the next port of call,” read the most popular comment.
“But the speedos he bought from the ship’s store were appropriate, and you should have accepted them. Then you’d be teaching him the line between cheeky but legal/acceptable and things that will get you arrested,” the same comment continued.
“Light [You’re the A-hole],” wrote someone else. “He’s an adult. If women can wear bikinis why can’t men wear speedos?”
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“I have to admit I snort-laughed when I saw the image. I think a compromise would have been if you were OK with him wearing the speedos he bought on the ship,” wrote another Redditor, who added, “Congrats on his self-confidence!”
Others said the OP should have paid for the replacement swimsuits, before one commenter suggested the dad was just “jealous because you don’t look quite as good as your 18 year old.” They added, “The link to the first isn’t that bad and if he bought a speedo on board that is not bad either. Get over it dad!”
“I will FREELY admit that I WISH I looked as good as him again,” the dad said in the replies. “Hell I’d settle for half as good. But I’m not jealous in the slightest of him, I’m a super proud dad.”
The father later edited his original post to “clear up a few things” and insist he’s “not a prude.”
He can (usually) wear what he wants, I don’t care. He has sneaked in friends for skinny-dipping parties at home, I don’t care. He and two friends once went streaking in the neighborhood, and were caught by an HOA ‘cop,’ and I don’t care,” wrote the father. “He has sex, I don’t care. In fact I buy him condoms and have for a while, I order them because he has a wicked latex allergy. I’m not a prude.”
Though he said regular Speedos aren’t his style, he admitted he had a “knee-jerk reaction” to his son buying them on the ship because he felt the teen was just trying “to get as close as possible to what he originally had to pull one over on Dad, and I wasn’t having it.”
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He added he would pay his son back for the board shorts he eventually bought, before doubling down on his belief the original swim briefs were “VERY inappropriate.”
“If they had been black I MIGHT have let it slide, but not with the baby blue. They are LITERALLY marketed as ‘hey look at my big d–k,'” he continued.
“Even more so, they went well beyond that, there was zero mystery as to what’s what in them, detail-wise. As one responder said, YES you could even determine one’s circumcision status. Clearly. And they weren’t even wet yet. If not wanting my kid to wear those in public makes me a prude, so be it.”
What do you think?
