Im pissed off, swearing in public.

[wombatsandaplant]

Yesterday I was walking my cat. And I was ticcing all sorts of things, my tics have been really bad lately. Mainly swearing and sexual things, just how my tics are at the moment. I have Tourette’s, it’s just how I roll. Usually I suppress my tics because I’m terrified of offending people but the neurologist told me I should let them out as I get tired and get headaches if I suppress.

Anyway back to the point of this. I was down a path behind peoples gardens and I hear shut up and stop swearing it’s disgraceful, from a garden. I tic again and a gate opens and this woman storms out and starts shouting at me telling me I should be ashamed and shouldn’t utter those words in public. She was probably mid 40s, I’m mid 20s. I managed to get out I have Tourette’s and she replies saying tourettes doesn’t exist, it’s just an excuse for bad behaviour.

I’m gutted, I just started getting confidence going out in public, only this week I started going outside again due to my mental health issues.

AIBU for having Tourette’s.

I know I’m not but I feel like I am, especially when people like this come out of the wood work.

Well, she's a right silly ignorant bitch, isn't she?

I'm latest forties, and I'm sorry that this happened to you. I very much accept that Tourettes exists, and it must be so hard as a sufferer. (I also swear like a trooper, lol, with absolutely no excuse. . .)

I hate swearing......but if you have tourettes it can't be helped. You did nothing wrong OP.....,that woman was ignorant and abusive, esp as you managed to tell her of your condition.

💐

Please don't let one dick knock you down, you have a right to live your life!

Why is anyone voting YABU????

OP YANBU at all. Don’t let her derail you.

Agree with all the above. There's always one dickhead mouthing off-it wasn't you. Really hard, but try to forget it. Always remember what other people think of you is non of your business!!!

I would be more surprised at you walking your cat, never mind the swearing lol

Walking your cat?

She’s an absolute dick OP. I’d love to say to just ignore her but I can see how much this has upset you. Just pity how ill educated and ignorant she is.

Well she's clearly a stupid bitch for saying tourette's doesn't exist.

I swear in public, it's a part of language and I don't believe there's anything wrong with it so long as it's not an actual derogatory term for a minority. Fuck is a brilliant word. I'd have looked at her like she had three heads and carried on what I was doing.

Sorry to hear your mental health hasn’t been great OP. Firstly, of course you’re not BU for having Tourette’s. I don’t have Tourette’s so I don’t want to comment on how you should or shouldn’t be feeling about this situation, but from your message, it sounds like you can be self conscious of it. You can’t help it though, you know that, and I’m sure the important people of your life know that too. This lady is a random stranger who clearly is completely ignorant to Tourette’s and sounds like she doesn’t care to educate herself on it if she won’t even entertain that it is a genuine condition (which is ridiculous, and I’d like to think her opinion is shared by a very small minority!). Unfortunately you’re probably always going to come across the odd random ignorant person who makes unkind comments. Try not to take it personally, these people are simply uneducated and it doesn’t need to be your job to educate them - you don’t owe anyone anything

It is so unfortunate that you are in the 10 percent of people with Tourettes who swear.

walking the cat???

Try not to let it get you down, OP. Unfortunately there are ignorant fools from all walks of life and they are the ones that end up looking stupid (never you).

I actually don’t have a problem with swear words, tics or otherwise. It’s really interesting (I think) how some people long ago decided what words are offensive and the power a word can hold. Should we still be hanging onto that after all this time?

And - walking your cat? Please tell me you have a picture of your cat on the lead. This delights me! 😍

I walk my cat too! She's an indoor siamese with outdoor delusions. (Although currently, the game is, she goes out, jumps the fence, we stand in the freezing cold with the lardy arsed feline, while she eats grass and argues that she should be allowed to go across the busy road and hang out with the foxes, and the neighbours are used to us loitering in the lane, ultimately fielding her inside, with her arguing vociferously that 'it's just not fair!)

There can be swearing involved if I have to drag her back through the neighbours trellis or retrieve her from under the other neighbour's car. . .

Don't worry about it - if that is all she can be worried about then she is living a blessed life.

One of my colleagues has Tourettes and when he first started he suppressed the tics. After a while he realised he was the only one not swearing. We are proper potty mouths and now we just use him as cover... this is in a "professional" environment.

Honestly just ignore her.

YANBU Tourettes does exist of course and she has made a fool out of herself.

I’m sorry this has happened op. Don’t let it knock your confidence. She’s a silly old witch.

I think you met a particularly ignorant woman. Please don’t let it put you off. Most people would have accepted your explanation with good grace. And anyone who doesn’t accept it, doesn’t deserve your attention.

What an awful experience for you! Rest assured the majority of people do not think like that arsehole.

From experience my very close family member barely gets a second glance 80% of the time and they have coprolalia alongside copopraxia.

Please continue to release your tics as there can be some very serious physical symptoms that come from suppressing

Surely you know you are not being unreasonable? Is it the first time you have had sweary or sexual tics in public?

The women's clearly uneducated about Tourette's and shouldn't have told you it didn't exist (though if I had kids in a garden and heard someone wearing I too would have asked them to change their language... I wouldn't automatically assume it was someone with Tourette's).

She absolutely should not have said Tourette's doesn't exist and been rude once you explained but in all honesty, I have one of those paths down the back of our garden, if I heard someone aggressively swearing and using sexual language in the dark I would be really scared and intimidated, I wouldn't have said what she said but I'm not sure I'd react really calmly either

You know you're not being unreasonable

As an aside, I LOVE the fact that you walk your cat I think mine would scratch my eyes out if I tried to put a collar or lead on them!

Can I just say (as someone who doesn't have Tourettes) the woman you encountered is a fucking arsehole with shite for brains.

So sorry you encountered an idiot - try not to let her get you down (counsel of perfection, I realise and easier said than done, especially if your mental health is fragile at the moment). And listen to your consultant -don't try to suppress your tics.

You didn’t do anything wrong, but you do need to understand that your actions will have a real impact on some of the people you encounter.

There are people in the world for whom hearing swearing triggers memories of abuse and violence. There are people with autism that will find violation of the social order especially stressful.

It’s not unusual for special conditions to come into conflict. A critical guide dog for a blind person could be a trigger for a life threatening asthma attack in a person with both asthma and a dog allergy.

All we can do is address these conflicts when they arise and approach one another with kindness.

Thanks guys. I just got completely thrown off by it.

Here’s my cat on a lead. She loves it. She’s a house cat and I thought she might like the odd walk, in the summer I walked her more.