Good Night Nurse!
Cidu Bill on Feb 11th 2008
Hasn’t this familiar storyline passed its expiration date? A woman’s right to nurse in public has been written into law in some states, and in other states telling a woman to cease and desist has the potential to lead to a lawsuit. This is something every restaurant owner is aware of.
Filed in Bill Bickel, Jan Eliot, Stone Soup, breast-feeding, comic strips, comics, restaurants | 24 responses so far
jennifer and the beans Feb 11th 2008 at 02:28 pm 1
This is something every restaurant owner is aware of.
‘Fraid not. This kind of storyline still happens every day for reals. Even in the states where the right has been written into law, not every business owner has gotten the message (or chosen to comply).
That being said, this comic doesn’t really add anything new to the discussion. :-\
Cidu Bill Feb 11th 2008 at 02:44 pm 2
It’s a puzzlement. Restaurant owners get various trade journals, and they don’t run their businesses in a vacuum. How would they NOT know these things, and harass nursing mothers if they DO know? It’s hard to believe you can be that stupid and still remain in business.
That being said, though, you’re right: These cases are in the papers surprisingly often.
Nicole Feb 11th 2008 at 02:54 pm 3
I will add my voice to the “this happens all the time” choir.
But has anyone else noticed that she seems to be nursing Curly from the Three Stooges ??? “Nuk Nuk Nuk”
Piny Feb 11th 2008 at 03:14 pm 4
I think tha tit is just a set up for the comparison in the 3rd panel.
I wouldn’t even be surprised if the idea for this strip came from someone commenting within earshot of the cartoonist, “Ever notice how people get uncomfortable around a nursing mother, while they just ignore (or ogle) an old guy “nearly nursing” his bimbo?”
Pinny Feb 11th 2008 at 03:17 pm 5
#3 is me.
I thought that I had caught all the typos before submitting (especially the one in the comment itself)…
Sorry!
Pinny Feb 11th 2008 at 03:17 pm 6
Re: #5
I meant that ** #4 ** is me.
I’m giving up for today!
Kiki Feb 11th 2008 at 04:11 pm 7
#4 Same with this old FBorFW, although I think the comparison is more subtle.
http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2002/12/13&name=For_Better_Or_Worse
#3 Speaking of FBorFW, I’ve always liked the breastfeeding sound effect Lynn J. uses
http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/000573.php
brien Feb 11th 2008 at 04:15 pm 8
Nicole, I was going to say the very same thing! :-p
Cidu Bill Feb 11th 2008 at 04:20 pm 9
Well, technically, Curly said “Nyuk nyuk nyuk.” Then again, this kid did have something in her mouth.
hr Feb 11th 2008 at 04:59 pm 10
And I’ll pile on and say that yes, this still happens. I had a security guard at a museum tell me that I was disturbing others by nursing in public about a year ago. I’m not sure who I was bothering considering that I was on a bench down a hallway past the bathrooms. It’s not the most opportune time to have to tell an armed security guard that they are wrong and it’s illegal to ask me to stop. I think I told him that I would happily move somewhere more private, but as they didn’t provide anything more private I was doing my best.
Okay, my comment is not very funny, but I think this storyline has potential.
Cidu Bill Feb 11th 2008 at 05:14 pm 11
hr, since you were in a museum, you could have parked yourself near some nude paintings or sculptures. I’d think that would make it pretty difficult for the security guard to make much of an argument.
(actually, if I could draw worth a damn, I’d do a cartoon showing that — not of you PERSONALLY, I mean…)
Nicole Feb 11th 2008 at 06:30 pm 12
Bill — it is a well known fact that as a child Curly said “NUK” much in the same way all children mispronounce words. As he grew older and his verbal acumen increased he was able to say “NYUK”
Charlene Feb 11th 2008 at 11:00 pm 13
What gets me is how the anti-nursing people make up stories about women waving their breasts around, spraying milk everywhere while shrieking “I GOTTA FEED MAH BAYBEEE!!!” This never actually happens, but it’s great propaganda for misogynists who can’t stand the idea that breasts might exist for reasons other than their own personal arousal.
They’re the same type who claim that disabled people should be left to die at birth or that any woman who doesn’t measure up to their exacting standards is a hag or a “hambeast” and should be shot. The first is usually said with extremely insincere pity, the second with scorn.
Nicole Feb 12th 2008 at 07:55 am 14
“What gets me is how the anti-nursing people make up stories about women waving their breasts around, spraying milk everywhere while shrieking “I GOTTA FEED MAH BAYBEEE!!!”
You know — I’d like to see that sometime — might actually teach them a lesson
Trish Feb 12th 2008 at 08:35 am 15
Even when business owners and managers know the law, it’s scary how often that knowledge is not given to the staff who work at the business. This restaurant manager may know better, while the waiter was just as ignorant as the customer who complained.
bAT L. Feb 12th 2008 at 11:39 pm 16
Regarding #7 - that sound effect is actually the sound that the baby makes when nursing, and is the same sound I’ve heard.
My mom always tells people that when she had to nurse in public, she just put a blanket over the baby and nobody was the wiser. Everyone just thought the baby was sleeping and no fuss was made at all. Then again, that was the ’80’s and nobody cared.
Cidu Bill Feb 12th 2008 at 11:43 pm 17
People did care in the 1980s — and in the 1980s, women WERE routinely told they couldn’t nurse in public. It wasn’t until the early 1990s, to the best of my recollection, that the whole “nursing rights” thing really took hold.
bAT L. Feb 13th 2008 at 12:17 am 18
My mistake! I was only a baby then and a child at the end of it, so I guess I was pretty ignorant of the whole situation.
That brings up a good point, though. Very young kids don’t object to seeing that type of thing, since they don’t know they’re supposed to think it’s anything other than a mother and baby. Are there really people who get offended by this other than people who think it’s something more than it actually is anyway?
arik1969 Feb 13th 2008 at 03:21 am 19
“‘What gets me is how the anti-nursing people make up stories about women waving their breasts around, spraying milk everywhere while shrieking “I GOTTA FEED MAH BAYBEEE!!!’
You know — I’d like to see that sometime — might actually teach them a lesson.”
Dear God,
Her lips to your ears,
Amen.
Jess Feb 14th 2008 at 03:03 pm 20
What I really want to know is how she is nursing through her shirt. It’s completely on and done up.
jennifer and the beans Feb 14th 2008 at 03:43 pm 21
What I really want to know is how she is nursing through her shirt. It’s completely on and done up.
Nursing apparel. Nifty stuff.
solarrhino Feb 15th 2008 at 10:50 pm 22
Never bother a woman who’s feeding her baby. Nobody’s better at nursing a grudge. But 21 posts? I gotta say, I think you people are milking this one.
Todd Feb 16th 2008 at 04:40 pm 23
It could be a sneaky marketing gimmick: What happens when you tell enough nursing mothers you can’t do that in the restaurant? They stage a sit-in. A whole bunch of nursing mothers. Of course, if they’re not eating, they’re trespassing, so they buy food.
And if you’re really lucky, you get women who aren’t nursing; they just come in and take their tops off. Then you have all the guys coming in hoping to see that.
I liked the sequel: This restaurant is near a Hooters. Although, I think it would have been more fitting if it had been near a Deja Vu or Golddiggers.
Nicole Feb 18th 2008 at 05:16 am 24
solarrhino - we are just trying to keep abreast of current events (you missed this one)