The boys and I stopped at a McDonalds at the half way mark of an 8 hour drive to see Grandma so they could play at the play place for a while. They were both having a lot of fun, the play place was really busy with kids everywhere. I snatched Connor up about 10 minutes before I wanted to leave to nurse him before putting him in his carseat. I thought nothing of it, as usual. He was done, I put him down for one last run as I cleaned up the table.
Suddenly a woman appears and says "ma'am?" I turned to her and smiled because I had seen her looking at me from time to time, I assumed it was because she had noticed that Connor is special needs (saw me using sign language maybe) but instead she says "I support your right to breastfeed your son, but I have two teenage sons here, and I would appreciate it if you would have the decency to go somewhere more private or at least cover up."
I have to admit that I was a bit shocked because I was expecting a conversation about special needs, not breastfeeding! I recovered quickly and said "Actually, the LAW supports my right to breastfeed my baby in public, and I did not bare my entire breast for all to see, I'm sure your sons have seen more exposure in JC Penny catalogs, furthermore, my son is special needs with a malformed palate and airway that makes breathing and swallowing difficult for him, so covering him up is not an option."
She at least had the decency to look slightly sorry about getting on to me when I mentioned the special needs part, but she went on to say "everyone around you would appreciate it if you would go somewhere more private to do what is considered a very private thing." To which I said "again, the law supports my right to do this wherever I am with my baby, perhaps if you taught your sons that this was a normal natural bodily function that they shouldn't be ashamed to see, there wouldn't be a problem here."
She got angry then and said "obviously you and I were raised differently, I was taught that exposing myself in public is not acceptable and I would appreciate it if you'd not expose yourself to my sons." To which I said "yes, apparently we were raised differently, because I was taught that my child's needs come before your discomfort, particularly when the law is very clear in this respect. I feel bad for your future grandchildren who will no doubt be formula babies because of your ignorance."
That pretty much ended the conversation, it was short, lasted only 2-3 minutes probably, and I obviously flustered her with my quick comebacks. While I was proud that I stood my ground, I was a little embarassed that after she left, I found myself to be shakey like I had just had a big fight!! I guess it's because I didn't see this one coming. I've fought with many a dr about my son's medical care related to his special needs, but this lactivism on the fly was a first for me!!! Unfortunately it most certainly fell on deaf ears.
Suddenly a woman appears and says "ma'am?" I turned to her and smiled because I had seen her looking at me from time to time, I assumed it was because she had noticed that Connor is special needs (saw me using sign language maybe) but instead she says "I support your right to breastfeed your son, but I have two teenage sons here, and I would appreciate it if you would have the decency to go somewhere more private or at least cover up."
I have to admit that I was a bit shocked because I was expecting a conversation about special needs, not breastfeeding! I recovered quickly and said "Actually, the LAW supports my right to breastfeed my baby in public, and I did not bare my entire breast for all to see, I'm sure your sons have seen more exposure in JC Penny catalogs, furthermore, my son is special needs with a malformed palate and airway that makes breathing and swallowing difficult for him, so covering him up is not an option."
She at least had the decency to look slightly sorry about getting on to me when I mentioned the special needs part, but she went on to say "everyone around you would appreciate it if you would go somewhere more private to do what is considered a very private thing." To which I said "again, the law supports my right to do this wherever I am with my baby, perhaps if you taught your sons that this was a normal natural bodily function that they shouldn't be ashamed to see, there wouldn't be a problem here."
She got angry then and said "obviously you and I were raised differently, I was taught that exposing myself in public is not acceptable and I would appreciate it if you'd not expose yourself to my sons." To which I said "yes, apparently we were raised differently, because I was taught that my child's needs come before your discomfort, particularly when the law is very clear in this respect. I feel bad for your future grandchildren who will no doubt be formula babies because of your ignorance."
That pretty much ended the conversation, it was short, lasted only 2-3 minutes probably, and I obviously flustered her with my quick comebacks. While I was proud that I stood my ground, I was a little embarassed that after she left, I found myself to be shakey like I had just had a big fight!! I guess it's because I didn't see this one coming. I've fought with many a dr about my son's medical care related to his special needs, but this lactivism on the fly was a first for me!!! Unfortunately it most certainly fell on deaf ears.
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Your comments make me WISH that someone would have tried that BS with me! 
I hope her sons overheard what you said and will go home with new ideas to ponder.
what awesome comebacks!!!!!
) and I've just tried to smoothly change the subject without outright refusing to nurse him. He quickly moves on to something else, so I think he's actually DONE done now. But if I had thought of it, I would have gladly tandem nursed in front of her just to prove a point 
