Patricia Grisafi
It always seems like for every mother who is trying to feed her child in a public space, there is another person who feels profoundly uncomfortable at the sight of a breast. I don’t get it, but there you are.
One Redditor was, you know, just trying to have his coffee at a cafe when a mom needed to nurse her baby. And he felt so awkward he asked the nursing mom to move tables.
I’m done with women needing to adjust their lives and potentially cause their child to be hungry so some dude can have his coffee and read his portfolio, trapped in his own little world where nursing moms and babies never leave their homes.
“I (27M) work a job that allows a very good amount of time for a lunch break. So much in fact that I’ll regularly head down to a cafe (I really don’t know if it’s a cafe but it’s about pretty small so yeah) and sit and have something with the time I have for the break. Keep in mind, for some reason this place is almost always busy,” the OP writes.
“It just so happened that today a woman (early-mid 20sF?) came inside with a baby and it was so busy that it looked like there was only like 2 open seats available, 1 of which happened to be the sit across from my small table. This women asked if she can sit at the table. The other table was under the air conditioner so understandable. I said yes because what harm would it have done otherwise?”
“So a little bit goes by and her baby starts crying, so she takes a breast out and starts breastfeeding. Obviously I’m just avoiding all eye contact, but it got so uncomfortable that I ended up asking if she might be able to see if she can sit at the other table. I’m just trying to sit here, drink this cup of coffee, finish reading in my portfolio and leave. The woman looked sorry and really just said she couldn’t and the baby was already eating (feeding?, idk) so I just downed the coffee, and started to leave.”
“A few people looked at me like I was a douche and it’s been bothering me. I know it’s a natural thing for baby’s and moms and that there’s nothing I can do. I wasn’t going to try and force her away so I left. Was it too far to ask if she may have sat at the other table. Idk I feel like I was an asshole thinking about it now. But I just didn’t know what to say when a random women is breastfeeding 3 feet away.”
Can we please stop making breastfeeding moms feel like crap?
“Yes. 1000% yes YTA. This woman probably got two hours of sleep last night, has a crushingly awful mix of hormones in her body, she tried to escape and do ONE adult thing for herself, only to have to feed her crying baby and then you give her a hard time? I get that not everyone grows up comfortable around bodies and nudity but bro. Breastfeeding is 0% sexual. And if it really bothered you, you should’ve moved to the less desirable spot. Everyone was looking at you weirdly because YTA. Please do better next time – she deserves empathy, which was decidedly not what you gave her,” said Most_Poet.
“Seriously women get berated in public no matter how they decide to feed their child, LEAVE HER BE. She wasn’t shoving her boob into your face, she was literally feeding and sustaining another life that deserves and has ALL right to eat however makes them comfortable. Women aren’t public property so please, lay off of us,” explained Un-ComprehensivePen.
“All of this. YTA, OP. I have 2 babies that I’m nursing, and I’m an old hat at this. If that had been me, I’d have called you out. Loudly. I don’t care if my entire chest is showing, feeding my littles is more important than your sensibilities. If I had been the manager of that cafe, you would have been banned for life, and she would have gotten free food and drink. Mind your own effing beeswax next time,” said MrsF2017.
“‘But I just didn’t know what to say when a random woman is breastfeeding 3 feet away.’ Nothing. Say nothing. I mean, do you usually say things to women giving their babies a bottle? Or do you say things to other strangers who are eating? It’s just a tit. You probably had one stuffed in your mouth as a kid,” advised beapledude.
“Why couldn’t YOU move to the other table if YOU were uncomfortable as opposed to asking the lady with something attached to her boob to just get up and move? YTA,” noted munchkin0501.
Featured Image: Pexels
