A man I’d never met made a rude comment about something I was wearing- I was particularly conservatively dressed in a business suit at the time, to make it even more shocking.

I turned to him, and with as much sincerity and urgency as I could project I said “Thank you so much for pointing that out, I didn’t realize. Since you’re so kind, would you please let me borrow your phone for a second? My battery is dead and I urgently need to call Mom, just for a second.”

He was nonplussed but I turned up the biggest pleading ingénue eyes I could manage, and he begrudgingly handed over his phone.

I quickly scrolled through his contacts to one labeled “Mom,” called it, and when a lady answered I asked “Did you raise your son to make rude comments to women he doesn’t even know, to approach women in public with the sole reason of insulting them? No? I think you need to speak with him.”

Handed the phone back to the dumbfounded man and skipped away happy as a lark.

ETA HOLY GUACAMOLE Thanks for all the upvotes!!!

To briefly address some FAQs - I answered anon due to uncomfortable responses to other things I've shared under my real name.

No, I'm not always so quick. I think I only managed to scroll to "Mom" by appearing flustered over using an unfamiliar phone.

Yes,I realize it's possible he is a merely a product of the environment he was raised in, and his mother wasn't upset with him at all. By the look on his face,I suspect he knew she would be, though.

And finally, all you fine gentlemen who feel I was "mean," "cruel," "unfair," etc, for this really very mild comeback... Really? I was just trying to remind him of mom's lessons on how to be a better person. Slapping him would have been more historically and culturally appropriate, but I don't believe in corporal punishment.