Am I Right Or Am I wrong?

I firmly believe that if we see something wrong and keep silent, we are contributing to the wrong.  That said, I wonder if I'm becoming a little too confrontational in my old age.  Right now I'm having a letter to the editor of the local newspaper published tomorrow.  I'm on the side of the jail guards who walked out because they weren't allowed to wear safety vests...jail officials say that would be intimidating to the criminals.  Damn!!

Today I had lunch with my sister at the mall and a young man, about 20, came into the food court wearing a tee shirt with the word, "FU-KING" (fully written, though), in huge letters on it. Sharon, Jim, and I, and also a couple sitting near us were disgusted by this.  My concern is that children shouldn't have to see garbage like this.  Sharon asked a cleaning lady to call security guards but, when they came, they told Sharon there was nothing they could do because it would infringe on the person's freedom of expression.  What a world!

I had half expected this and I wasn't about to let the guy get away with wearing such filth in public so I went over to him and asked if he thought it was right for children to see the words written on his tee shirt?  He and his friend looked shocked when I questioned them and he mumbled something, looking kind of nervous at this crazy old lady who was accosting him.  I asked again if he thought his tee shirt was appropriate to wear around children and he very softly said, "no", still looking nervously at me.  I told him he should be ashamed of himself and, at that, he and his friend quickly gathered up their stuff and left the mall.

Then I turned my attention to the security guards who stood about 100' away watching the action.  I asked them if it was true that they could do nothing in a situation like this and they said they couldn't but was glad I'd done it for them.  I know they have their orders from their bosses but something is rotten in Denmark when you take your children out in public and are legally subjected to filth like that tee-shirt.  I wish I'd asked the young man wearing it if he wore it in front of his family or his grandparents.  He appeared to be Indian or Pakistani so I doubt very much he'd dare insult his family that way.

Now, am I being too confrontational in my old age or am I right in trying to retain some of our values?  I do worry about myself sometimes.