I caught a story over the internet and it grabbed my attention. I think in part because I live in a place where the meter maids are a little ‘ticket happy’. A woman was parked illegally (in a space reserved for permit holders only) and she was trying to feed her infant. She says that the parking attendant gave her a ticket for her illegally parked car. She is appealing it but says that if the government is truly trying to encourage breastfeeding, the ticket should be dropped.
Anyone who reads my blogs regularly knows that I’m a huge breastfeeding advocate. I don’t think that women need to hide or cover up in public while breastfeeding. Neither do I think a breastfeeding woman should feel free to bear all; but I have yet to see someone who does that.
But breastfeeding as a defense for illegal parking? The woman says the attendant could’ve given her time to feed her infant, but that ticketing illegally parked breastfeeding women is a violation of rights. The mother points out that the baby is breastfed on demand and therefore, she must stop ‘immediately’ to feed the baby–which apparently includes illegal spaces.
If you’re detecting a note of sarcasm here, you are correct. I live in a place where parking tickets are given freely, in fact we have a spot in our budget especially for parking tickets. They are virtually unavoidable. No matter how good your excuse is–if you’re in the wrong spot–you can get a parking ticket. (Case in point–my husband got a parking ticket because he was double parked. He was helping me get into the vehicle. . .and just why, you ask, did I require assistance? I was in labor! We appealed and the judge reduced the fee to $35 stating that walking is good for laboring women.)
Believe me, I get the whole needing to feed on demand. . .and I have breastfed just about everywhere in my response to my infant’s demands. But parking illegally is well. . .illegal. Could the attendant have given her a few more minutes? Sure. But I don’t think she should be obligated to do so. Mom can take the time to find a legal place to park and feed the baby. Just because we’re breastfeeding and just because we have the right to do so in public, doesn’t mean that we should have the right to breastfeed in public where we would not otherwise be allowed to be.
Had the ticket been given for indecent exposure–I’d feel differently. But let’s not use breastfeeding as an excuse to be perched illegally. It does nothing to help the breastfeeding cause.