carrietorgc
11-04-2003, 08:10 PM
I heard about it on here after the fact, but was so pleased to see a good write up in the Washington Post today. It was in the Names & Faces column...
NAMES & FACES
Tuesday, November 4, 2003; Page C03
The Milk of Bookstore Kindness?
Hell hath no fury like a nursing mother scorned, something the managers of Barnes & Noble found out when a gaggle of newly minted mommies descended on the downtown D.C. store.
It seems that one recent Sunday afternoon, Shannan Higgins was breast-feeding her 8-week-old son when she was asked by a store employee to leave the children's section and resume feeding her newborn in the ladies' room. Higgins was "mortified and offended," she told us, but complied with the request. A week later, she shared her tale with friends who, outraged, ended up organizing a public protest against the chain.
Last Thursday, 45 nursing mothers, cradling their newborns, demonstrated their solidarity by publicly nursing their children on the sales floor.
A few men even showed up -- hey, who says you have to be able to breast-feed in order to support this cause?
And it was a smashing success, especially when "the manager finally came out and explained that the employee made a mistake and that, in fact, breast-feeding is permitted in every part of the Barnes & Noble store," event organizer Alli Gersch told us. (Attempts to reach the store manager were unsuccessful.)
"And after a while, someone even brought us cookies," Gersch said. As "a bunch of breast-feeding moms, we're always happy to eat cookies."
Where was the woman who started it all? Higgins was home, taking care of her sick son.
NAMES & FACES
Tuesday, November 4, 2003; Page C03
The Milk of Bookstore Kindness?
Hell hath no fury like a nursing mother scorned, something the managers of Barnes & Noble found out when a gaggle of newly minted mommies descended on the downtown D.C. store.
It seems that one recent Sunday afternoon, Shannan Higgins was breast-feeding her 8-week-old son when she was asked by a store employee to leave the children's section and resume feeding her newborn in the ladies' room. Higgins was "mortified and offended," she told us, but complied with the request. A week later, she shared her tale with friends who, outraged, ended up organizing a public protest against the chain.
Last Thursday, 45 nursing mothers, cradling their newborns, demonstrated their solidarity by publicly nursing their children on the sales floor.
A few men even showed up -- hey, who says you have to be able to breast-feed in order to support this cause?
And it was a smashing success, especially when "the manager finally came out and explained that the employee made a mistake and that, in fact, breast-feeding is permitted in every part of the Barnes & Noble store," event organizer Alli Gersch told us. (Attempts to reach the store manager were unsuccessful.)
"And after a while, someone even brought us cookies," Gersch said. As "a bunch of breast-feeding moms, we're always happy to eat cookies."
Where was the woman who started it all? Higgins was home, taking care of her sick son.