Earlier this month, Kelsey Dawn Williamson placed an order online for a simple kids' graphic tee. The adorable T-shirt, which was meant for her 3-year-old daughter, Salem, had a bit of a vintage vibe: On its front was an image of Frog and Toad, two beloved characters from the classic children's series written by Arnold Lobel. But when the $5 tee finally arrived … well, let's just say Williamson was a bit shocked. Then confused. And then came the tears of laughter, because wow. Just wow.
The T-shirt, which was originally sold on AliExpress.com, arrived bearing a rather shocking message on its front: F*ck the police.
That's right: F*ck the police. (Except there certainly weren't any asterisks bleeping out the profanity.)
It's not exactly a message you'd want your 3-year-old prancing around town in. But what shocked Williamson the most was that when she purchased the T-shirt, the website showed no signs of the slogan anywhere. Plus, it was marketed specifically for kids — so when or why the message was added is kind of a mystery.
"I literally did not know how to react so I just took a few moments to stare at it and try to process," Williamson told BuzzFeed News earlier this week. "Of all the things they could have added, why that? On a children’s-size shirt?"
But as shocked as Williamson was, she also couldn't ignore the obvious: It was EXTREMELY hilarious.
Williamson told BuzzFeed that she immediately FaceTimed her husband to tell him about the weird mix-up, and the pair "just screamed together."
"We both just lost it, dying of laughter. All he could say was 'Oh sh*t,'" she said.
Oh sh*t indeed.
On May 28, she shared a side-by-side photo of the original product photo on AliExpress and her daughter Salem, donning the "altered" tee.
Needless to say, the post has gone MEGA viral in the last few days, as people from all over have been both shocked and absolutely tickled by the whole thing. To date, it's been shared over 30K times and has racked up hundreds of comments from Facebook users who can't get enough of the tee — or adorable little Salem.
"This is hysterical!" wrote one user. "I would have most definitely taken a picture!"
"I am rolling," wrote another. "She's too freaking cute!"
But of course, this being the Internet — where keyboard warriors think nothing of firing off offensive, judgey commentary for just about anything — the post has also garnered a fair amount of negative comments.
According to Williamson, a litany of now-deleted comments flooded in shortly after she posted the images -- all criticizing her daughter's weight.
The mom of one, who wasn't about to stand for the public fat-shaming of a child, blocked the users from further comments. But their cruel and unnecessary digs stung.
"People were actually messaging me just to say mean things about her," Williamson told BuzzFeed. "A ton of people calling her fat, asking me what I feed her to make her so big, telling me the shirt I bought was too small."
Many others chimed in to defend the little girl and to chastise those who somehow felt it was necessary to comment on the weight of a 3-year-old.
"Omg y'all stop talking about an innocent child," wrote one user.
"Oh f*ck anyone who says anything about her weight!" wrote another. "And f*ck anyone who doesn't find this hilarious and adorable!!"
Haters aside, Williamson says she still finds the whole incident hilarious -- and that she definitely won't be returning the T-shirt.
In fact, as she wrote in one comment on the Facebook post, she plans to keep it in Salem's baby box as a memory for the future. (Because you just know that kid will find it hilarious when she's a teenager.)
