First the bad news from this week:
Bill Maher disgraced himself with some inane comments about the Applebee's nursing story. He compared breastfeeding with masturbation and called mothers who nurse in public lazy and exhibitionistic. If you really want to ruin your day, watch his comments here (fast forward to 3 min, 15 seconds to watch).
Sophie Currier, the mother and Harvard MD/PhD candidate who sued the National Medical Licensing Examiners Board for break time to pump during her medical boards, lost her case. She has started a blog, and some of the comments on it are truly infuriating. I got a little too frustrated reading them to comment so I sent her an email instead. Maybe some of you could lend a little support with a comment.
And now the good news to take you into the weekend:
Jennifer at The Lactivist got her new license plates, shown at right!
Finally, a story from "The Best of Craig's List" that I loved. It's an account written by an older gentleman about sharing an airplane row with a nursing mom. I assume that "comforting the child" is grandfather code for breastfeeding.
I happened to be on an airplane from Shrevesport two weeks ago. Those tend to be small and crowded.
I sat next to a young lady, perhaps 20 or so. She was carrying a small child, who was quite unhappy with the pressure changes and all. She got up several times to go to the bathroom, each time I had to rise to let her out. I knew she was comforting the child, I even asked her if she wished the aisle seat.
She blushed and said she preferred the inside seat. The flight got a little rough, the seat belt light came on along with a warning from the Captain, and he wasn't kidding, it got very rough. She looked quite miserable, the child was crying. The ears of the very young are quite sensitive, they have not learned to compensate so nursing is very beneficial at times like that.
When the flight began to calm I mentioned to her that it was all right to comfort her child at her seat, I did not mind. She smiled and thanked me, I suppose the fact that I am obviously a bit grandfatherly relaxed her. So she did, I simply read my book. Several around noticed but none took offense.
One funny thing, the steward came by, a young man of perhaps 30 or so, bringing soft drinks. This was after things had settled down a bit. She was asleep, as was the child. It had a solid locklip on her breast, both were quite content. He asked me if my daughter wanted anything, I got some orange juice for her and set it on her tray.
She woke up soon after, drank it and thanked me. I even got to hold the child for awhile, a wonderful feeling bringing back some memories of my youth and my own children. I confess to a small tear in my eyes at touching a hand nearly as small as my index finger.
Perhaps my being much older makes a difference, but breastfeeding is a wonderful thing to see. Even as a male, a tiny child pressing to my chest feels just fine.
Look down on it all you wish, those who are fools. Women should feed their children as nature intended, they will be stronger and healthier as a result.
I see nothing wrong with it, if bashful or in a highly public place, a simple blanket will suffice. If not, that does not matter, it did not for the young lady sharing a long trip with me. My wife nursed ours until they turned to solid foods, often in public. Not one time did anyone say anything.
It might be time for some to rub a bit of the blue off their noses, this is a very silly thing to take any offense at. Courtesy would dictate that we simply go on our way and let the young mothers be. It is just nature at work.
Take that, Bill Maher - and Barbara Walters, too!
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