by Michael Bauer
“That crying baby is really annoying,” I heard someone say at newly refurbished Dosa on Valencia earlier this week. “Why do people bring babies to restaurants?”
I followed the sound and looked over to the middle of the room to see the originator of the noise; instead saw the mother expose her breast and feed the baby. The baby quieted immediately and the woman went on talking to her dining companions.
I was surprised, and admiring, of the young mother’s seeming lack of self- consciousness. She made no attempt to hide the process, even when the waiter came over to take the order. Every once in a while I saw someone look her way, eyes widening as they took in what was going on.
It made me contemplate our public mores and my own surprised reaction. Most states, including California, have laws that allow mothers to breast feed in public. It’s certainly not a legal issue, though in some areas breast-feeding mothers will be cited for indecent exposure or public nuisance. It becomes more a conflict between the rights of the mother and the comfort of some diners.
It’s easy to dismiss this as the diner’s problem, but living in society is all about getting along, which entails compromise and looking out for others. As we’ve seen with the recent actions of Congress, compromise isn’t easy to achieve.
I may be offended by that woman in her purple and yellow outfit, or that man with the plumber’s butt hanging over the seat, but it’s their right to wear what they want. Is it the same with breast feeding?
Trying to dig deeper into the issue, I went on line and discovered that this is Breastfeeding Awareness Month, and last week was World Breast Feeding Week. Bump.com recently did its second annual survey of 1,600 women and found that 44 percent of women feel uncomfortable with public breastfeeding.
So what do you think? Please weigh in.
I know one thing: Seeing the mother breastfeeding was better than listening to a crying baby.
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