A friendly holiday insult

I had two Christmas gatherings before December 24th, how's that for planning ahead? On Sunday, Adam and I went to his mom's house. It was fun with all the usual holiday players. He's got an aunt and uncle that tend to be a bit outspoken. Somehow we got onto the topic of "bad hires". The aunt recited a list of people that have applied to her work, my favorite: people with tongue rings. She and I had been conversing for several hours and I was an active participant in this particular conversation, until she brought up tongue piercings. Her point: you can't understand people with him, and they just don't get that they cannot get a job where they have to speak into a phone. At this point I hit a dilemma, stick out my tongue and inform her that the person she is currently speaking with sports one of these "tongue rings" or just laugh it off to her inability to accept people "different" then herself. I opted for the latter, but managed to make eye contact with Adam and his brother so we could share on the inside joke.