Breastfeeding mom asked to 'cover up' at pizzeria. She 'politely declined their offer'

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

A breastfeeding mother dining at a pizzeria in Gettysburg, Pa. was asked to cover herself with an apron, setting off backlash against the restaurant's owner and manager that continues to spread on social media.

Olivia Cook of Hanover began nursing her infant son while she was dining at the The Upper Crust with her family, she wrote in a Facebook post, when a manager came over with an apron and asked her to cover up, allegedly telling her it was house policy.

Manager Peter Bales said he didn't approach Cook until other patrons at the restaurant complained about the situation. But, Bales said, the mother was welcome at the restaurant and welcome to breast feed.

He was trying to tell Cook that it is the restaurant's policy to offer a cover to a mother breastfeeding in case she would like a blanket, Bales said.

"That was a courtesy that we offer and she declined, which was fine...and then it was immediate overreaction like 1 to 1000, that it was a horrible offense that I had offered," Bales said.

-snip-

Breastfeeding in public without a cover is legal in all 50 states, and Cook felt compelled to share the experience as a means to stop the cycle of shame placed on breastfeeding mothers.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/health-news/breastfeeding-mom-asked-to-cover-up-at-pizzeria-she-politely-declined-their-offer/ar-AADH7q9?li=BBnb7Kz

[genxlib]

1. They should offer blankets...

To cover the heads of the people who complained.

[Blecht]

2. LoL

Definitely the best solution to the real problem.

That's what I'd do if I owned a restaurant.

[Greybnk48]

16. Best idea of all! love it! n/t

[Generic Other]

28. The wisdom of Solomon!

I would definitely leave a big tip.

[Blue_true]

40. Exactly. nt

[hlthe2b]

52. LOL... I love it...

Our society is so screwed up on this and women's bodies--breasts, especially.

So, one can never expose breasts. Ok. And how about locales that have tried to charge women going topless who, post breast cancer have had radical mastectomies sans reconstruction. Exactly what is behind that?

Grow up, men (and those women who enable them).

[Throck]

53. Nice.

[Bettie]

3. If the restaurant owner was OK with

her refusing his offer, it shouldn't be a big deal.

The patrons who complained? WTF people, babies need to be fed and nursing mothers shouldn't be forced to avoid public places to avoid people who look for reasons to be angry/offended.

ETA: I breastfed my three boys and did it in public often. I was offered a cover once and declined and that was that.

[Ms. Toad]

15. It is offensive for the restaurnt to offer the cover.

I nursed in public for 18 months. My daughter was fine with my breast being covered up - and, in every instance when we chose to be covered we brought our own cover.

Nursing uncovered is not something that is done accidentally. Women and infants who are uncomfortable nursing uncovered in public bring their own covers. It isn't as if the restaurant is being courteous to the nursing pair - they are siding with uncomfortable observers and by doing so suggesting that there is something shameful about nursing uncovered.

[Bettie]

17. I think it is weird, but I

don't take offense at the offer.

But, I'm fairly easy going about stuff.

None of my kids would tolerate their heads being covered while nursing, so I never covered them. I did it in public a lot, got a few dirty looks from people, but hey, some people are just awful.

[Ms. Toad]

24. But the reason you are getting offered a cover

is to appease those people giving you dirty looks. That's why it's offensive. If it's legal to breastfeed wtihout covering in all 50 states, no one has any business suggesting it is shameful. (I don't think they have any business, even if it isn't expressly legal, but especially where it is legal no one should be shaming people into covering & especially not dressing it up as a courtesy to the breastfeeding dyad when it is to appease those offended.)

[obamanut2012]

60. It doesn't matter what the owner is "okay" with

It is illegal to even ask her to do so.

[Renew Deal]

4. One time I saw a woman walk through a train while breastfeeding

Pretty impressive

[Bettie]

18. I always admired the ones who could do it

while on the move.

I couldn't, boobs are just too large, especially while I was nursing!

[Turbineguy]

5. If restaurants allow this

what's next? Men with wifebeater shirts showing their hairy armpits?

Oh wait. Never mind.

[LuvNewcastle]

8. Yes. There is so much nastiness all around, I see no need to

take umbrage with breastfeeding. I usually do my Walmart shopping at about 2:00 in the morning, and I have seen much worse than this.

[AJT]

6. Just because it's natural doesn't mean you should be so public about it.

Covering with a blanket is not too much to ask.

[MissB]

10. I mean, I totally love eating in the dark in a stuffy room

Breast feeding is not only completely natural, it’s also a basic need for a baby to be fed. Often.

Folks that have an issue with it should simply look in a different direction. It’s not that hard to not stare.

[AJT]

66. Use a baby blanket. No one is stopping a person from nursing.

[MissB]

67. It's fine to avert your eyes.

You don’t need to be staring at a woman that is feeding her baby with her breast. It’s not that interesting anyway- it is a perfectly normal action.

[irisblue]

11. Gotta disagree with you here

Keep your eyes on your own business, if it gets you bothered, pack your meal to go.

[SoCalNative]

29. Maybe the nursing mother

should pack HER meal to go. Or pump beforehand and bottle feed while in public.

[MrsCoffee]

30. Yeah, maybe she could put a portable fridge on her shoulder or carry an ice chest on her back.

You can't just pump milk and keep it in a bottle. It has to be refrigerated.

Surely she could carry that along with a baby and all the other things needed when you're out with a baby.

For fuck's sake.

[SoCalNative]

32. Then stay home

until the kid is eating more solid food

[irisblue]

34. Why? Food is available with Mom.

SoCal, why is a nursing in public mother an issue for you?

[mcar]

38. So nursing mothers must be sequestered for perhaps over a year

to protect your tender sensibilities?

Why? You don't like seeing a mother feeding her infant, don't look.

[Blue_true]

42. Wow, you seem to really be judgemental about breastfeeding.

What is wrong, do you get locked in to staring and can't get back to minding your own business? There is nothing about a woman breast feeding a baby in public that puts me out, she is minding her own business and I would be in public to attend to my own business.

[obamanut2012]

64. Yup, someone has some weird issue with women's breasts

Feeding a baby. So weird.

[Iggo]

47. That's about enough of that.

Good luck!

[Lars39]

48. Grow up

[MrsCoffee]

50. Oh fuck that noise.

What an absolutely ridiculous thing to say.

[jberryhill]

51. Bwhahahha

How about people mind their own fucking business.

[obamanut2012]

63. You're a piece of work

[Mariana]

35. Why?

Why do you think it's her responsibility to work around your personal issues?

[Ms. Toad]

45. I remember the days when it was uncommon to see a visibly pregant woman.

This kind of shaming of women feeding their children in the healthiest way possible is incredibly offensive.

Women with small children are allowed to be out and about and enjoying their lives. They are allowed to take their children with them - bonding is important. Breast milk is the healthiest - and it is healthier directly from the breast for reasons such the interplay between baby's saliva and mom's breastmilk allows mom's body to adjust the milk to more closely match what baby needs - in addition to the instant feedback loop that better matches mom's supply to baby's quantity needs, and increased skin to skin bonding. There is no reason for mom to hide the fact that she is feeding her baby.

[obamanut2012]

62. Yeah, no -- GTFO breasts

[LanternWaste]

20. "Just because you may dislike it doesn't mean it should be made so private"

Eating without a blanket is not too much to ask.

(six of one, half a dozen of the other... and each as without merit as its corollary)

[Bettie]

21. Actually, that is sometimes too much to ask

I know a lot of women who used a cover and more who didn't.

My boys hated having something over their heads and wouldn't nurse if their heads were covered.

Still, most of the time in public all anyone who isn't looking really, really close will see is a baby's head and a little bit of skin.

[Blue_true]

41. Exactly what is wrong with a woman openly breastfeeding a baby?

It is not like she has a man or woman slurping on her. I have seen it once when I heard a baby begin to cry, saw part of a woman's breast when she whipped it out to feed the baby, I went back to what I was doing. It is so puritanical to see something wrong with a woman breastfeeding, it's none of your or my business what she is doing.

[Ms. Toad]

46. Spoken with the voice of somoene not intimately familiar

with breastfeeding - or, at most, familiar with one infant nursing.

The nursing relationship, and each baby, are different. My daughter was happy with enough cover so no one could see any part of my breast - but her eyes had to be uncovered. We nursed for 18 months in public, and I don't recall anyone taking particular notice.

Not all babies are willing to have be covered at all - or are willing to have the breast covered. I have been around many - and some are vehemently opposed to any covering at all. The choice, then, is to go sit in a hot (or cold) car, to nurse in a place I'm pretty sure you would refuse to eat - the bathroom, to sequester yourself for the entire nursing period (in my case 18 months), or to impose a screaming baby on everyone else until we can move to a place you deem appropriate for us to nurse.

So, yeah, it may well be too much to ask.

[obamanut2012]

61. Do you eat with a blanket over your head?

Yeah, it is too much to ask. It isn't women's fault people sexualize breasts. Get over breastfeeding. Am waiting for you to say, "Well, peeing and pooing and jacking off are natural, and we can't do that in public places," because that is what you are implying, and where these "arguments" usually go.

It is also ILLEGAL in all 50 states to ask a woman to cover.

[Iggo]

69. Good gawd.

[Zambero]

7. Shariapizzaria Law

Optional of course!

[Loki Liesmith]

9. Why is this news?

Some tiny pizzeria somewhere did something we don’t like?

[Flaleftist]

13. Because it gets clicks and comments.

[hunter]

19. Because it's a universal human rights issue, not just one pizza place.

In what twisted evil universe is it wrong to nurse a baby?

Right, this one.

[LanternWaste]

22. Often, an example points to a larger standard.

I offer that top you as it seems you're wholly unfamiliar with the concept of 'example.'

Hope that helps!!!

[Blue_true]

43. My guess is a lot of MAGATS are visiting Gettysburg after Trump made a big deal there

near the beginning of his administration. There were likely bible thumpers that believe a woman should be covered to her ankles, so seeing a baby working over a breast was shocking to them and they likely could not look away like a normal person would have.

[obamanut2012]

65. Because it is sexist AF

Women's breasts literally evolved to feed babies. So many men -- and women -- treat them (and the women they are attached to) as sexual. It is literally a fetish with so many people.

[Lancero]

12. I really don't understand why people complain because they saw someone eating in a restaurant.

I'll admit, I've seen some messy eaters when out but honestly? If seeing other people eat is THAT horrific, maybe you should just stay at home?

[csziggy]

14. ++++++++++++++++

[OriginalGeek]

25. i have to fight a beard and mustache

PLUS missing teeth. I'm a mess and they STILL let me eat in public. Anyone who'd rather see me than a baby eat in public is messed up in their knucklehead.


Oh and I talk with my mouth full too. But my wife hits me for it so we're even.


I think I may have just gotten dis-invited to future DU Meet-ups.

[skylucy]

26. LOL! Best post!

[hlthe2b]

55. LOL...

[ROB-ROX]

23. Damn Evil Conservative Republicans Perverts

Those EVIL people make something NATURAL seem wrong. They want their own third world country standards which are PERVERTED......My children were all breast fed and they are better (health & mentally) for it. The in bred conservatives are mentally ill and basically all SICK people who are all PERVERTS.....

[Downtown Hound]

27. There's nothing courteous about offering something her cover herself up with

It's actually quite demeaning and insulting.

[Whiskeytide]

31. I'd much rather the mother at the next ...

... table breast feed her baby than hear a hungry baby cry. Im trying to eat over here.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

33. Best comment in the whole thread

[hunter]

37. My mom and my wife, her sisters and my sisters, would breast feed hungry babies anywhere...

...including church.

As a fourth-fifth-sixth grader my mom's whip-it-out to nurse my youngest siblings used to embarrass the hell out out of me.

It's now something I admire her for.

[Blue_true]

44. Same here. The only situation where I have saw a woman whip one out and feed a

baby was just that case. The baby had started to go off. I looked over hoping the mom would quiet the child when she pulled out a breast. The baby immediately went silent and I went back to what I was doing.

[hlthe2b]

56. Oh, yes.. We are hard-wired to react to babies crying--at least most of us...

Then again, I can't bear to hear our furry babes cry either.

[bdamomma]

36. geez, when

is this society going to grow up, out in Europe they wouldn't think twice.

[Blue_true]

39. I saw a young woman openly breastfeeding recently.

I minded my own business and let her mind her's. Nothing about what she was doing offended me, the baby had been getting cranky, likely because he or she was hungry.

[LuckyCharms]

49. OMG! OMG!!! IT'S...IT'S...A BREAST!!!!!

Hide the pizzas, Joe! Hide the fucking pizzas until we figure out what to do!! All of you employees, you are free to leave for the day, with pay. I apologize for you having to be exposed to a BREAST!! All you customers, your meal is free today, I'm so sorry!

[Croney]

54. Be a good role model for your children at a restaurant.

In the unlikely event they notice and ask what a nursing mom is doing, say she's feeding her baby like you were fed, of course. (Or if yours was bottle-fed, say it's the other way of feeding babies.)

You don't want to look askance at a nursing mother if I'm nearby. This old lady will Uncle Buck you.

[tavernier]

57. I'm stunned!!

Why would anyone eat at Upper Crust? Worst pizza ever!!

[Iggo]

70. Next time I have the chance to eat there, I won't.

[rickford66]

59. I'm shocked. We're mammals ??

[Major Nikon]

68. Mammals with a guilt complex

It's OK to show people on TV literally getting their skulls bashed in, but you can't show even a glimpse of a female areola without people absolutely losing their shit.