To set the scene - this was on a dumpy Middle School track that sits back from road; very few people use it and not visible unless drive down into the school.
I was alone when I started warming up for an interval workout, but then a forty-something-ish I would guess woman came and started walking laps.
The humidity was brutal and I had intended to take my shirt off before starting the intervals .. but didn't because of the woman's presence.
After about the 5th one, I was dying from the humidity(this is North Carolina) and decided to take it off. As I meet her during my walk rest, she says "Would you put your shirt back on. I find it offensive." (For the record, I'm somewhere between slender and athletic. Not a beautiful torso but I don't think offensive.)
I was of course taken aback ... and in retrospect wish I had handled it differently. I finally sputtered out "Give me a break" and then put my shirt back on. In some ways I wish I had just been totally gracious and apologized and put it back on .. but ... it was something about her tone etc. that was very confrontational.
What happened a bit later now makes me wonder if she was looking to start a "fight". Because about 10 minutes later, her boyfriend or husband shows up at the track. He was about twice my size and muscular.
I was a bit afraid my "Give me a break" was going to be enough to be confronted, but nothing more happened.
What would others have done in that situation? Maybe the lesson is to swallow one's pride and always take the high road, if for no other reason then you never know what could happen?