Posted on 08/29/2007 6:18:24 PM PDT by YoungKentuckyConservative
In June, Brooke Ryan walked into a Nicholasville Road Applebee's restaurant to celebrate an anniversary lunch with her children.
She walked out humiliated, in tears and without the lunch.
But the incident over breast-feeding her 7-month-old son at Applebee's has spurred the soft-spoken 34-year-old to start a public awareness campaign on the rights of breast-feeding women in Kentucky.
"On a small scale, I want Applebee's to change its policy," Ryan said. "On a large scale ... I want breast-feeding to be accepted."
The dispute with Applebee's began June 14. Ryan chose a booth in the back of the restaurant away from other customers. When her baby, Michael, got hungry, she began to nurse him discreetly, she said.
But a waitress came over and said that if she wanted to breast-feed, she had to cover the baby with a blanket. Ryan said it was so hot that she didn't have a blanket. The waitress then repeated her request. Ryan said she then asked to see the manager and handed him a copy of the 2006 Kentucky law that prohibits interference with a woman breast-feeding her baby in public.
The manager said he knew about the law but a customer had complained about indecent exposure, so she had to cover the baby with a blanket.
Ryan left as her food came, to nurse her baby in the car.
Her lawyer wrote a letter to Thomas & King, the company that operates Applebee's in Central Kentucky. They got no response. After a second letter, a Thomas & King lawyer said the restaurant chain would consider keeping blankets in the restaurant so that breast-feeding women could cover themselves.
"That's like telling Rosa Parks she still had to sit in the back of the bus, but we'll give her a blanket to make her more comfortable," Ryan said.
When contacted yesterday, Mike Scanlon, president of Thomas & King, said he didn't know about the incident. However, he called the Herald-Leader back to say that Applebee's had no policy against breast-feeding.
"It is perfectly legal to breast-feed in public and we support that," Scanlon said. "I'm not sure the manager said cover the baby's head, I think he said cover yourself modestly. This was by no means intended as interference, but a request to do it modestly, which I believe is an appropriate response."
Ryan says that as an experienced breast-feeder, she is extremely modest, and, in that instance, made sure that she was facing into the corner.
"Some women think it's fine to cover up with a blanket, but a woman shouldn't be forced to," said her husband, Michael Ryan.
Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, who sponsored the breast-feeding protection bill, agrees.
"She was not treated right under the new law," he said. "There should have been no comment made to her at all; the restaurant overstepped its boundaries. There's no way they can explain their way out of this."
Thirty-nine states, including Kentucky, allow women to breast-feed in any public or private location.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breast-feeding for about the first six months and support for breast-feeding for the first year and beyond as long as mutually desired by mother and child. But according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 11 percent of mothers meet the six-month mark. Thirty percent breast-feed exclusively for the first three months. Kentucky's rates are 7.5 percent and 25 percent, respectively, according to a 2007 report.
Scanlon suggested that Ryan had an "agenda."
"I note with interest that she had a copy of the statute with her," he said. "I'm glad to let this become a matter that we can all learn from."
But if all Ryan wanted going into Applebee's was an anniversary lunch, she may indeed have an agenda now.
August is World Breast-feeding Awareness Month, and Ryan has organized two related public events:
• A "Nurse-In" at the children's play area at Fayette Mall from 1-3 p.m. Saturday. Ryan says the mall is not a target, but has a place for kids to play.
• From noon to 2 p.m. Sept. 8, she is holding a "Nurse Out" with posters and breast-feeding in front of the Applebee's on Nicholasville Road.
She's also asking for a public apology from Applebee's and training for its employees about the rights of breast-feeding mothers. Some day, she says, she would like to see the international breast-feeding symbol of a mother and child in every restaurant that supports the practice.
"I'm not trying to be provocative," she said. "I want to teach."
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The management at this restaurant is lucky this wasn't my family and wife, as I imagine the impending scene would have turned a lot of customers out the door. I'm not one to shy from confrontation.
It would seem appropriate to me that Applebees' Executive Management needs to hear from good folks like those Freepin' around on here to ensure they understand that "normal" people that "eat" at their restaurant also believe in family and our children's necessary requirement for nourishment ... much of which is lacking in Similac and other engineered foods.
My wife managed to dig up a couple of useful email addresses. FREEP AWAY!!!!!!!
mscanlon@tandk.com
feedback@tandk.com
swarr@tandk.com
It would seem to me that the woman was trolling for a law suite. The kid is seven months old, ween it lady.
Cover the udder and nobody has a problem.
Can’t your wife use a pump and take the milk with her in a bottle?
Every breastfeeding mother should carry slips of paper with the area laws printed on it, just in case. And seven months old is still a baby.
In keeping with the Applebee tradition if she had covered her breast with honey and barbeque sauce things would have been OK. (How can anyone eat their junk?
Why the use of scare quotes around "eat"?
This is so strange. Thirty years ago I breastfed in probably all the major chains, and never had a problem.
Of course, I never exposed myself, always had a blanket, sat in the back, didn’t make anything of it.
Now all this controversy just amazes me.
FWIW, my children hated bottles, never took anything from a bottle. Seriously, not a joke. Some kids just don’t like the artificial nipples.
Not all babies can go from breast to bottle with ease; it can be confusing.
The fact that this person had a copy of the bill, right there in her hot little hand, speaks more to either her exhibitionism OR her desire to get attention by causing trouble.
I’m all for breast feeding done properly.
bump
Ryan said she then asked to see the manager and handed him a copy of the 2006 Kentucky law that prohibits interference with a woman breast-feeding her baby in public.
It would seem to me that the woman was trolling for a law suit.”
_______________
That’s how it appeared to me as well. Hopefully a jury will see it the same way. What is it with these women? They act like mega-attention-seekers.
Breastfeed in the bathroom. Heck, pissing is a normal bodily function, but I don’t do it at the booth.
Modesty is appropriate. Someone walking around with a copy of the public law is NOT just there for a meal. I would bet nothing she said about the meal is accurate either.
Appleby has marginal food, but there is nothing wrong with their behavior. Sorry, but other folks have rights too. That includes a meal without watching someone making a display of herself.
Applebee's lost me when they got rid of their onion peels and horseradish dipping sauce in favor of gourmet onion rings that are harder than stones. Some of their other items they changed too. The food stinks.
I know a girl - actually, I am related to her, unfortunately, who would whip out a tit anywhere and everywhere, and proclaim it as HER RIGHT.
It made me really uncomfortable.
But if that is what you want...
Eventually, even my liberal dumb-ass brother divorced her. He couldn’t stand the constant drama.
She brought a copy of the law, but not a shawl so she could cover herself? No sympathy here.
Do you carry around your driver's license, and/or a concealed carry permit?
Would you eat your Bloomin' Onion or Ribs in the bathroom?
I'm curious about her mentioning going to the back of the restaurant, and sitting facing the corner. When I fed my children I tried to do those things also. On the one hand it does sound like she was trying to be discreet, but carrying the law around sounds like she might have been looking for an argument.
My philosophy is thus:
"My dear, I don't care what they do, so long as they don't do it in the street and frighten the horses."
A woman breast feeds a baby in public, what’s the big deal? The hypocrites in this country are beyond belief as if the sight of a piece of the woman’s breast area the size of an “M&M peanut candy” when exposed is going to destory our morality in America is ridiculous. I remember ten years ago our hypocrites in the media would show Black women’s nipples in African documentaries. Today those offending “nipples” are digitally edited out. I have more of a problem with having to observe men wearing shaggy pants with their butts hanging out or other members of society who reside in large cities scratching their crotch in public.
Yes. Why?
I think you and your family should stay home when your baby is hungry.
My daughter breastfeeds her baby everywhere she goes and NEVER has she ever been ordered to stop or take her baby elsewhere.
It is possible to feed an infant without flashing boobs all over the place.
Seems to me you could carry around the law if you expected your rights to be violated on occasion. It would be a good idea, as many people are idiots and unaware of laws such as those protecting breastfeeding. The baby has a right to eat at the dinner table with his/her parents. Enough said.
Hmmmmmmm. Is it on the menu? No outside food! ;0
It's not being "rejected",lady.It's just not the type of thing that should be done in public.If your child gets hungry in public give him/her a bottle or take him/her into the ladies' room.
And fear not,lady....hundreds and hundreds of millions of American and European kids in recent years have grown up very healthy indeed after having been given *nothing but* cow's milk and/or formula so an occasional bottle for little Mary or Billy will *not* do a *bit* of harm.
Um, no. Apparently she's analogically impaired. This would be like saying, "OK, Rosa, now you can sit anywhere you want, but you have to cover up with this blanket."
That having been said, I think she's right in the sense that if the law says Applebee's has to allow her to breastfeed, they can't then make it conditional without running afoul of the law.
My wife did breastfeeding, and no one ever had a problem with it. She never once got a negative comment or a dirty look.
That is why I suspect someone running around with a copy of the law. I think she was there on a crusade, and behaved in a way to ensure there was a complaint.
It would be interesting to hear the other side - the customer making the complaint.
it is very possible to nurse in public
without exposing yourself and making
others feel uncomfortable. :)
Speaking as a caveman, bared breasts are a welcome sight — until the baby shows up. Then the recreational equipment becomes ulititarian and loses my interest.
Breast feeding in public doesn’t bother me I think it bothers some of the chicks though.
Carrying the law around sounds like she might have been anticipating that someone might be unfamiliar with the new law, so she was trying to protect herself. The fact that she left in tears indicates that she was not looking for an argument. The fact that she sat at the rear of the restaurant and faced away from people says to me that she was trying to avoid annoying or embarrassing anyone.
>><When her baby, Michael, got hungry, she began to nurse him discreetly, she said.
I can’t imagine making a big deal about somebody breast feeding but as a point of logic , it wasn’t totally discreet if the baby wasn’t covered.
Somewhere in the depths of my diaper bag are a few slips of paper with the Texas breastfeeding laws printed on them. I’m not looking for someone to sue, I just know that someday, some nosy person might decide to make a scene and I’ll be ready for them.
It’s just good sense, like keeping your driver’s license or CCP close at hand.
Tempest in a tea cup, turmoil in a D-cup. I think this mommy was looking for trouble. She should have covered up....or, as I did when nursing our kids, TIME THE OUTINGS AROUND THE BABY’S SCHEDULE!
Now that's not meant as an endorsement on my part of the law itself, because I don't think the state of Kentucky should be telling Applebees what they can or can't allow in their stores, like smoking say.
ulititarian = utilitarian
oops, too many tropical cocktails.
Or they get lazy from the bottle nipples and won’t nurse anymore because it takes work.
Those that say to wean a baby at seven months or pump and use a bottle are ignorant about breastfeeding.
Babies are not ready for to get all of their nutrition from other sources at seven months. I never fed my babies any formula. Why would I substitute highly processed, artificial "formula" for the food God meant babies to enjoy? It is inferior in every way.
As for pumping and using a bottle to give breast milk, that is not a practical solution. Not all breastfed babies will take a bottle. Pumping is never as efficient as the baby nursing. And it requires keeping the milk chilled during storage and warming it later. The readily available breast is so much better.
Some people who get bent all out of shape over a nursing mother would never say anything to a woman who was wearing a very low cut top. You can often see more of the breast in that case than while nursing. But it bothers them to see a baby nurse because they "know " what that baby is doing. I say they should get over it. That is the way babies are meant to be fed.
Unless they allow men to breastfeed, which I’m pretty darn sure they don’t, I don’t see how they’re “discriminating” by not allowing women to.
I recall one time in the East County town of El Cajon, California outside of San Diego my wife and I were attending an auction of antiques. The auditorium had row seating which were empty as the patrons, about 60 of us, were viewing the items to be auctioned when a young lady walked in with an infant. She seated hereself in the middle of the empty seats and proceeded to breast feed her baby without a blanket. When she started breast feeding the infant I looked around the auditorium to get the reaction of those in the room, both men and women. The reaction seemed to be okay this woman is breast feeding a baby, no big deal. No one stared, no one paid any attention to the woman. We all went back to evaluating the items to be auctioned and after about 10 minutes the young lady got up and removed the infant from the dispenser, put it away and left the area. No rapes, no riots, no molestations, nothing occurred immediately after? AMAZING
I suggest the Bloomin Onion. Only takes one hand to eat it.
So she just happened to have a spare copy with her just in case? I smell set-up.
You are fired, moron.
Ahh yes, the Applebee's sans air conditioning.....what a bunch of hooey, throw a damn nursing bib over the teet and carry on....unless you want the big bucks.....there is no defense here. Dumb broad, high dollar lawyer.
A very understandable Freudian slip. :)
Bullseye!
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