OK I admit it, I shop at WalMart 
: Sure we are broke, but for me, that's not a good enough excuse. It's essentially just laziness--I know where everything is there and I know it's cheap :
SO I thought I'd post what happened last week to make myself feel better:
Now, I probably shop there several times a month, and I'm sure I'm the only person ever to set foot in that store with a baby in a sling. That alone attracts SO much attention, many of the employees recognize me, probably as "that weird mom with the cloth baby carrier", but whatever.
Last week I was there with my older two kids, in the toy department, and I was breastfeeding. Nobody was around, and I was completely covered up like always--if someone were to stare at me for several seconds, they might realize that my babe was nursing and not sleeping. Well, the only person I saw walk by was an elderly lady, whom I even smiled at, and apparently she *complained* about *what i was doing* to the staff
This middle-aged lady bustled towards us out of customer service a minute later, going "oh, are you finished??" to me, as my babe had already quit nursing but i was still holding her in that position. I was just stunned at first, and said "yea.." and she was all helpful-sounding, saying "yea, you can't do that out here on the sales floor, we have a family restroom just over here, did you know?" At which point I found my (shaking) voice and said, "No, there is a law, anywhere a mother is allowed to be, she has the right to nurse her baby there, this is a state law, it's Texas law!" she didn't believe me and looked scandalized, said "well what are we supposed to do if it's offensive to some people??!" and I said, "what, are you offended? have you had someone complain just now?" and she said "Of course!! Why do you think I'm over here?!" I repeated that it's state law that a mother has the right to nurse in public, and she just threw her hands up and walked off without letting me finish. I was LIVID!!
Well of course, we had a huge Lactivist moment!
I went to customer service at the other end of the store and got the asst. manager out there, told him everything that happened, and that i was extremely upset. We agreed that there was nothing to be done about the customer who originally complained, but i told him that the staff needs to be aware that they are violating Texas law by telling their customers that they can't nurse here! He apologized profusely and even agreed, saying "of course, the baby's gotta eat, and nobody wants to eat in a bathroom" 
he asked who the employee was who accosted me, and I couldn't recall her name but i told him what she looked like, and that she had a "20 years+ of service" name tag 
:, and he was like "O RLY." He promised to bring the issue up at the next storewide staff meeting, to make sure that the WM staff knew the state law and not to harass nursing moms even if other customers tried to complain, and that was that.
Apparently he went right over to the lady who confronted me, because she sought me out as I was leaving and profusely apologized for upsetting me, admitted she had no idea there was a law protecting NIP, and said that in future, if she ever got a customer complaint about NIP, that she would inform the customer of the law as well. I also pointed out to her that it's gross to eat in a bathroom, even if you're a baby, and she thought for a second, then sheepishly agreed.
so maybe my shameful and embarrassing walmart habit did a teeny bit of good in the world...??
and now that i've admitted to y'all what a bum i am for shopping there, maybe I'll finally quit!!
: Sure we are broke, but for me, that's not a good enough excuse. It's essentially just laziness--I know where everything is there and I know it's cheap :SO I thought I'd post what happened last week to make myself feel better:
Now, I probably shop there several times a month, and I'm sure I'm the only person ever to set foot in that store with a baby in a sling. That alone attracts SO much attention, many of the employees recognize me, probably as "that weird mom with the cloth baby carrier", but whatever.
Last week I was there with my older two kids, in the toy department, and I was breastfeeding. Nobody was around, and I was completely covered up like always--if someone were to stare at me for several seconds, they might realize that my babe was nursing and not sleeping. Well, the only person I saw walk by was an elderly lady, whom I even smiled at, and apparently she *complained* about *what i was doing* to the staff
This middle-aged lady bustled towards us out of customer service a minute later, going "oh, are you finished??" to me, as my babe had already quit nursing but i was still holding her in that position. I was just stunned at first, and said "yea.." and she was all helpful-sounding, saying "yea, you can't do that out here on the sales floor, we have a family restroom just over here, did you know?" At which point I found my (shaking) voice and said, "No, there is a law, anywhere a mother is allowed to be, she has the right to nurse her baby there, this is a state law, it's Texas law!" she didn't believe me and looked scandalized, said "well what are we supposed to do if it's offensive to some people??!" and I said, "what, are you offended? have you had someone complain just now?" and she said "Of course!! Why do you think I'm over here?!" I repeated that it's state law that a mother has the right to nurse in public, and she just threw her hands up and walked off without letting me finish. I was LIVID!!
Well of course, we had a huge Lactivist moment!
I went to customer service at the other end of the store and got the asst. manager out there, told him everything that happened, and that i was extremely upset. We agreed that there was nothing to be done about the customer who originally complained, but i told him that the staff needs to be aware that they are violating Texas law by telling their customers that they can't nurse here! He apologized profusely and even agreed, saying "of course, the baby's gotta eat, and nobody wants to eat in a bathroom" he asked who the employee was who accosted me, and I couldn't recall her name but i told him what she looked like, and that she had a "20 years+ of service" name tag :, and he was like "O RLY." He promised to bring the issue up at the next storewide staff meeting, to make sure that the WM staff knew the state law and not to harass nursing moms even if other customers tried to complain, and that was that.Apparently he went right over to the lady who confronted me, because she sought me out as I was leaving and profusely apologized for upsetting me, admitted she had no idea there was a law protecting NIP, and said that in future, if she ever got a customer complaint about NIP, that she would inform the customer of the law as well. I also pointed out to her that it's gross to eat in a bathroom, even if you're a baby, and she thought for a second, then sheepishly agreed.
so maybe my shameful and embarrassing walmart habit did a teeny bit of good in the world...??
and now that i've admitted to y'all what a bum i am for shopping there, maybe I'll finally quit!!
: aww, thanks guys! I am just glad that I managed to handle it okay--hopefully I'm helping to make this town a tiny bit more nursing-friendly... 
). I've never had a bad exp. nursing in there though, just some dirty looks. One sweet older employee gave me an "Aww, somebody's 'hungwee'!" when she came up to look at the sleeping baby and realised that he was nursing. 
