Andy Ternay walked into the First Watch café in Richardson, Texas, with his partner, both hoping for a relaxing breakfast. The morning seemed calm—until the manager of the restaurant walked over and asked them to leave.
Confused, Andy listened as the manager explained the reason: customers had complained about his shirt. The words on his t-shirt were clear and loud: “FUCK TRUMP AND FUCK YOU FOR VOTING FOR HIM” on the front and “FUCK THE RACIST ALT-RIGHT” on the back. For some people, those words were too much to handle.
The manager said, “Customers are very distressed, and we have families with children here.” But Andy wasn’t happy about the request. He took to Facebook to share what happened next.
“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.”
Andy explained that he had been wearing the shirt as a way to express his political beliefs and to support those who may feel marginalized. The manager, however, continued to insist that his shirt was inappropriate for the family-friendly restaurant.
“I told her I didn’t see any problem,” Andy said. “We had already been served drinks and made our orders. Why ask us to leave now?”
Things escalated when a cook came over and asked them to leave. By this point, the situation was becoming tense. Andy, still trying to stay calm, said, “We ask to tip our server for occupying her table, get drinks to go and leave.” As they walked out, he noticed something unexpected—one table of white people actually applauded their exit.
But the story didn’t end there. In the parking lot, a Black server approached Andy. “I just wanted to let you know that I quit,” she told him. When Andy asked why, she explained, “You should hear these people asking not to be seated near Muslims.” It was a shocking moment, and it made Andy realize how deeply divided some people were over these issues.
Later, Andy spoke to The Daily Beast, saying that people of color had actually complimented his shirt. “A Latino lady at the register thanked me, and two African American servers said my shirt was awesome,” he said. He had worn the shirt to make a statement about standing up for marginalized communities.
“I don’t want people of color, Muslims, LGBTQ people, and immigrants to feel alone,” he explained. “The proper use of white male privilege is to lift others up and speak truth to power.”
After leaving the restaurant, Andy found himself in an unexpected encounter with a police officer in the parking lot. “I stop the car and ask the officer if she is there over a t-shirt,” Andy wrote. The officer nodded. She asked for his name, but Andy politely declined. “I cite 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, apparently done with the exchange, simply said, “Just leave, okay?”
The restaurant’s corporate office later responded with a statement. “When we asked the gentleman to leave, it was because of complaints from families with children regarding the vulgar language on his shirt,” the statement said. “Just like young children can’t go to R-rated movies, we didn’t think they should be exposed to that kind of language in a family restaurant.”
They emphasized that their decision wasn’t about politics or race. “This has nothing to do with political statements or the color of people’s skin,” they added.
Despite the incident, Andy didn’t want to hold a grudge against the restaurant. He wasn’t planning to boycott or condemn them. However, the incident went viral, with over 42,000 shares of his post. The responses that affected him the most came from the African American community.
“I’ve gotten heartbreaking messages from African Americans saying they’ve lost faith in their white neighbors,” Andy shared with The Daily Beast. “They feel like their neighbors don’t have their backs anymore. My shirt was meant to reassure them that they’re not alone.”
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