Etiquette question

[minestrone]

I was in a burger joint a couple of weeks ago and a young family sat down next to me and the woman thonked her tit out for the nipper.

I am sure if the woman has made the decision to breast feed then they will quickly learn to deal with the situation as much as the hardening of the nips.

[realityhack]

the woman thonked her tit out

What an onomatopoeic triumph of a word well used!

[Moscow Mule]

You could say,

"Do you mind if I use your loo?"

[sasguru]

Some grown-up thoughts on this would be helpful (rather than the puerile ones that I am expecting) -

I took Mrs Gonzo to visit one of her friends this afternoon, this was our first visit to her house. We all had tea and cakes, I was pointed at the problems she was having with her computer, that sort of thing. This friend had a baby a few months ago so we were introduced.

At about 4pm, the friend decides it is time to put the baby to sleep. She takes us with her to show us the baby's bedroom. I have a look around, and then walk out of the room.

A few moments later I return to the room and find that the friend is sitting there with her shirt pulled up so that the baby can feed.

What is the polite thing to do in these circumstances?

Stay there and talk to them like this is completely normal? (which of course it is. Much as breasts are a source of pleasure for blokes feeding babies is what they are for).

Or walk away and give them some privacy, which suggests that you think that what they are doing should only be done in private and you would rather have not seen.

It is a minefield.

I turned around straight away and walked back out of the room to give them some privacy, but can't work out whether that was the right thing to do, or whether that was an insult.

Looks like the whole situation went tits up.

IGMC.

[dang65]

It's strange how difficult an issue this is for a lot of people. My missus breastfed three of our kids and was adept at keeping the whole process completely discrete, using a baggy top and a baby blanket to screen everything. But people would still be uncomfortable, even though they could literally see nothing (and god knows I tried). I mean, the kind of low cut top you see all over the place, including at work, displays far more cleavage than you'd see from any public breastfeeder.

But it upsets enough people that there must be a genuine issue. I think there have been cases of women being asked to desist in restaurants when other customers have complained. Incredible really. What's wrong with people?

[Gonzo]

Stare intently at them and say in a hushed voice.

Bitty!

I knew I could rely on someone from this forum.

Where was Mrs Gonzo?

She was in the room the whole time. She did say to me (later) that she was slightly surprised when her friend started to feed in front of her but thought that she must be OK with it.

If I had been in the room when she started feeding I would have known she was OK with me being there and I would have been fine with that too. It is this turning up half way through that made me unsure of the best thing to do.

more to the point,

what were they like ?

Milan.

I didn't stare today, but this woman did live in London for a while a few years ago, and they were a firm D-cup then. Maybe that is why I am trying to find out if it will be acceptable for me to hang around next time.

[Chugnut]

I didn't stare today, but this woman did live in London for a while a few years ago, and they were a firm D-cup then. Maybe that is why I am trying to find out if it will be acceptable for me to hang around next time.

I may consider moving the family to London if Mrs Chug's boobs will mysteriously increase in size then. They've not moved an inch since living in the country.

<Morse>
How do you know they were a) firm, and b) a D-cup?
</Morse>

[Pogle]

I breastfed my daughter til she was 8 months old and found it the most natuaral thing in the world.
We dont see enough of it in this country, the only boobs we see are for titillation and mainly male 'consumption'.

Men do get embarrased when they see a woman feeding, which is a shame, It didnt bother me much and I felt I was doing my best for Pogle Jnr, which frankly was the only thing that mattered

[oracleslave]

Men do get embarrased when they see a woman feeding,

I need to get out more.

[BrilloPad]

How about "can I have a go when the baby is done?".

Apparently some men like the taste of breast milk : I saw it is the Jerry Springer show......