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When you go and tell people they don't have a right to do something that they clearly DO have the right to do? You'll only make it worse for yourself.
I plan to try breastfeeding when I have children, and when I do, I'll cover myself.... with the cover of a Cosmo or Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue....
(I mean it's totally different, right?) Or maybe have a teenage girl in her low-cut tank top stand in front of me....
She was sitting on the floor in the clothing section.
I used to work retail. If an adult was sitting on the floor in the store, I would have gone up to see if they needed medical assistance, and probably suggested moving to the dressing room when I saw what was going on. Why? Because there's a seat in there, the closest seat to the clothing area most likely, and if someone is sitting on the floor in the middle of the racks of clothes, especially at Target where everything is crammed together and the carts are big, they're in danger of getting hit in the face (or baby's head) by a careless shopper who just doesn't see them sitting on the floor.
I doubt she would have had the problem if she was sitting on a bench somewhere. If they told her something when she was sitting on a bench, that might have been worth a little media attention.
Yes, you have the right to breastfeed anywhere in TX. But stores have the right to ask a customer to move if they're somewhere that puts them at risk or is disruptive to the other shoppers. Just like if you decided to breastfeed in the middle of a street, a police officer would not be infringing on your rights if he asked you to move.
No kidding. I would never ask a nursing mother to sit in the bathroom or her car, but I can't fathom why she would prefer a dirty floor in other people's way over a quiet spot with an actual seat. And then employees rolled their eyes at her! Boo hoo. I'm rolling my eyes right now. If you saw an adult sitting on the floor in Target while reading or texting, you'd probably roll yours too.
Target doesn't let people solicit outside their store, no matter what the cause. They don't seem eager to be used as a platform. Once all these otherwise-uninvolved people started calling and emailing, they probably saw it as a publicity stunt.
I'm ALL if favor of breastfeeing but were she my own daughter I might very well roll my eyes at her and say, "Get up off the floor! It's dirty, you're blocking the aisle and someone could clobber you and the baby with a cart."
Exactly! A floor in a retail outlet where thousands of people have trod? I don't think so! Now, mind you, I have breast fed in the library, at the park, in restaurants, even on the side of a mountain, but never did I breast feed in a store. My youngest is 24, and she quit breast feeding about 22 years ago. I breast fed in public long before there were laws protecting such behavior.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CharlotteGal
Her account said she sat in an out-of-the-way place, next to a jeans rack. If it's like most Targets, the jeans are against the wall. I seriously doubt she blocked an aisle or otherwise impeded shoppers.
I can understand the desire to nurse quickly - you just plop down and nurse; if the baby's fussy, he calms right away. Target's floor is probably cleaner than mine, with the dog & cat hair!
I seriously doubt it! I work in a dr's office and whenever someone drops a paci, I always grab it and wash it before they stick it back in the kid's mouth. I always say you can't trust the floor, even though it's cleaned every day.
I think all these advocates and political protesters are misinterpreting the law. Perhaps they are misinterpreting it intentionally.
The Federal law allows women to breastfeed publically in all Federal buildings.
It does *not* prohibit Target from making a policy prohibiting breastfeeding in the public areas of their store. Target is private property, open to the public. It is not a federal building.
Each state is allowed to pass their own laws extending the breastfeeding policy further, and Texas has certainly done that. However, several states have not, and several states have -limited- public breastfeeding laws, that provide for *privacy* when breastfeeding, but not permission to do so in any publically viewable location (such as public places having nursing lounges).
Also, I agree that one mother's right to nurse anywhere, does not supercede my right to grab a pair of jeans from the shelf to try on, in a store that exists to profit, in part, by my grabbing a pair of jeans from the shelf to try on.
Target is not a breastfeeding lounge. It is a retail operation. If that woman was sitting on the floor in front of a shelf of jeans, then she was preventing customers from even -going- to those shelves. Makes me wonder how many customers went to customer service to complain that they were unable to even check to see if Target had them in their size, because of some crazy lady parked on the floor feeding her baby.
I think it wasn't the breastfeeding, OR the floor sitting, that caused the store employees to tell her to leave that spot. I think it was the combination of the two. The fact that she was doing something - not abnormal, not immoral, not bad - but unusual - in the spot she was doing it..that prompted the action.
Not that it's unusual to breastfeed. No. It isn't. It IS, however, unusual to flop down on the floor in front of a shelf of jeans for sale to the public, to breastfeed. THAT - is unusual. It's unusual enough that if I had seen it, I would've wondered what was *wrong* and probably would've gone to Customer Service to let them know there was some chick parked in front of the jeans shelf feeding her baby (though if she was doing it discretely, I might not have known she was feeding her baby, and instead I might have though she was clutching her baby to her chest - maybe in shock over some kind of trauma)...
There's no telling what prompted the employees to even approach this woman in the first place. But I'll bet it was probably due to customers who wanted to -------- SHOP ------- in Target (WHAT A NOVEL IDEA)..and were impeded by some whacko on the floor.
I think all these advocates and political protesters are misinterpreting the law. Perhaps they are misinterpreting it intentionally.
The Federal law allows women to breastfeed publically in all Federal buildings.
It does *not* prohibit Target from making a policy prohibiting breastfeeding in the public areas of their store. Target is private property, open to the public. It is not a federal building.
Each state is allowed to pass their own laws extending the breastfeeding policy further, and Texas has certainly done that. However, several states have not, and several states have -limited- public breastfeeding laws, that provide for *privacy* when breastfeeding, but not permission to do so in any publically viewable location (such as public places having nursing lounges).
Also, I agree that one mother's right to nurse anywhere, does not supercede my right to grab a pair of jeans from the shelf to try on, in a store that exists to profit, in part, by my grabbing a pair of jeans from the shelf to try on.
Target is not a breastfeeding lounge. It is a retail operation. If that woman was sitting on the floor in front of a shelf of jeans, then she was preventing customers from even -going- to those shelves. Makes me wonder how many customers went to customer service to complain that they were unable to even check to see if Target had them in their size, because of some crazy lady parked on the floor feeding her baby.
I think it wasn't the breastfeeding, OR the floor sitting, that caused the store employees to tell her to leave that spot. I think it was the combination of the two. The fact that she was doing something - not abnormal, not immoral, not bad - but unusual - in the spot she was doing it..that prompted the action.
Not that it's unusual to breastfeed. No. It isn't. It IS, however, unusual to flop down on the floor in front of a shelf of jeans for sale to the public, to breastfeed. THAT - is unusual. It's unusual enough that if I had seen it, I would've wondered what was *wrong* and probably would've gone to Customer Service to let them know there was some chick parked in front of the jeans shelf feeding her baby (though if she was doing it discretely, I might not have known she was feeding her baby, and instead I might have though she was clutching her baby to her chest - maybe in shock over some kind of trauma)...
There's no telling what prompted the employees to even approach this woman in the first place. But I'll bet it was probably due to customers who wanted to -------- SHOP ------- in Target (WHAT A NOVEL IDEA)..and were impeded by some whacko on the floor.
I am fairly liberal and i dislike it when movement groups jump on the bandwagon for the sake of jumping on it. A hungry infant can wait the 30 seconds it takes you to walk over to and area with a bench or a chair.
I think all these advocates and political protesters are misinterpreting the law. Perhaps they are misinterpreting it intentionally.
The Federal law allows women to breastfeed publically in all Federal buildings.
It does *not* prohibit Target from making a policy prohibiting breastfeeding in the public areas of their store. Target is private property, open to the public. It is not a federal building.
Each state is allowed to pass their own laws extending the breastfeeding policy further, and Texas has certainly done that. However, several states have not, and several states have -limited- public breastfeeding laws, that provide for *privacy* when breastfeeding, but not permission to do so in any publically viewable location (such as public places having nursing lounges).
Also, I agree that one mother's right to nurse anywhere, does not supercede my right to grab a pair of jeans from the shelf to try on, in a store that exists to profit, in part, by my grabbing a pair of jeans from the shelf to try on.
Target is not a breastfeeding lounge. It is a retail operation. If that woman was sitting on the floor in front of a shelf of jeans, then she was preventing customers from even -going- to those shelves. Makes me wonder how many customers went to customer service to complain that they were unable to even check to see if Target had them in their size, because of some crazy lady parked on the floor feeding her baby.
I think it wasn't the breastfeeding, OR the floor sitting, that caused the store employees to tell her to leave that spot. I think it was the combination of the two. The fact that she was doing something - not abnormal, not immoral, not bad - but unusual - in the spot she was doing it..that prompted the action.
Not that it's unusual to breastfeed. No. It isn't. It IS, however, unusual to flop down on the floor in front of a shelf of jeans for sale to the public, to breastfeed. THAT - is unusual. It's unusual enough that if I had seen it, I would've wondered what was *wrong* and probably would've gone to Customer Service to let them know there was some chick parked in front of the jeans shelf feeding her baby (though if she was doing it discretely, I might not have known she was feeding her baby, and instead I might have though she was clutching her baby to her chest - maybe in shock over some kind of trauma)...
There's no telling what prompted the employees to even approach this woman in the first place. But I'll bet it was probably due to customers who wanted to -------- SHOP ------- in Target (WHAT A NOVEL IDEA)..and were impeded by some whacko on the floor.
The following private entities are considered public accommodations for purposes of this subchapter, if the operations of such entities affect commerce—
(E) a bakery, grocery store, clothing store, hardware store, shopping center, or other sales or rental establishment; ;
(List goes from "A" through "L")
There is a distinction between private, as your own home, and the above.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucidkitty
I am fairly liberal and i dislike it when movement groups jump on the bandwagon for the sake of jumping on it. A hungry infant can wait the 30 seconds it takes you to walk over to and area with a bench or a chair.
Where would this be inside a Target store? I was thinking it might have been better for the mom to go to say, the furniture dept and sit down on a chair, but she'd still be in the store and the employees could still have reprimanded her.
Where would this be inside a Target store? I was thinking it might have been better for the mom to go to say, the furniture dept and sit down on a chair, but she'd still be in the store and the employees could still have reprimanded her.
The food area, for one. Many Targets have places to sit to eat. The employees suggested that the mom use a dressing room; Target's policy is that a nursing mom who wants to use one has precedence over shoppers who want to try on clothes. She refused.
I wonder what people would think of a person sitting on the floor of the clothing department, eating a sandwich? Would Target employees be out of line to suggest, hey, maybe you could move somewhere more appropriate, where people aren't banging into you with their carts? If it's weird to sit on the floor of a store and eat a sandwich, then it's weird for anybody to eat there.
The food area, for one. Many Targets have places to sit to eat. The employees suggested that the mom use a dressing room; Target's policy is that a nursing mom who wants to use one has precedence over shoppers who want to try on clothes. She refused.
I wonder what people would think of a person sitting on the floor of the clothing department, eating a sandwich? Would Target employees be out of line to suggest, hey, maybe you could move somewhere more appropriate, where people aren't banging into you with their carts? If it's weird to sit on the floor of a store and eat a sandwich, then it's weird for anybody to eat there.
From what I saw on CNN about this, and they did an extensive interview with the mother, the employees did not know Target's policy towards nursing mothers.
The food area was someplace I didn't think of, though the mom would have been around more people there than say, over in furniture.
From what I saw on CNN about this, and they did an extensive interview with the mother, the employees did not know Target's policy towards nursing mothers.
I missed that. Were any Target employees interviewed? Or was it the mother claiming the employees she dealt with didn't know.
So far, I've heard only the mother's version of events.
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