More about the Denny's Nurse-In "thing"

This has stirred up a huge can of worms here in Asheville and across the country, and I have to say, a lot of breastfeeding moms are not getting on the bandwagon for the nurse-in, and I am happy about that. Some of this might repeat what I have said before on the subject, but I feel it needs said again.

I'm having a hard time with this nurse-in. From day one, I have spent hours reading all the articles, rude hurtful comments, and the posts by Crystal herself. She was "within her rights", but the thing is, there is a time and a place for everything.

Nursing should be allowed to happen at anytime and in anyplace, but we as advocates for nursing, need to be considerate enough of the others around us to make them a *little* more comfortable with the situation.

Just because something is acceptable in some cultures, does not mean it is acceptable here. And just because we have the right to do something, doesn't mean we should. (I don't walk around screaming at my kids and hitting them b/c the law protects me as a disciplining parent...)

Here are my main issues with this particular nurse in:

1.) Denny's (both local management and corporate) have not been given a fair chance to make things right and to educate the staff or make amends for the situation. You need to give them a chance to make things right BEFORE you start on a media rampage. Someone who truly is looking for change would not have made an immediate call to the media.

2.) People who are involved or want to be involved are not being informed of what is going on, and are actually being misinformed in some places. It is hard to support something when there is no information being given to supporters.

3.) There are comments that were deleted from MDC (mothering.com) that were inflammatory by Crystal, implying this is what she wanted to happen. I truly feel that she is twisting things and not being completely forth coming about her intentions or the entire situation.

4.) There seems to be no organization, and if you really want to make an impact, organization is key. There are a LOT of little things that need sifted through before this happens/should happen. No one wants to see nursing moms separated from their babies and sent to jail.

5.) A nurse-in is NOT about punishment or "putting it in their faces". It is about education and information. And in order to inform or educate, we need to be mindful and respectful of those we are trying to educate. We really should not "all be ourselves. Do what we are comfortable with" by letting it all hang out and not using discretion, because the majority of the people we want to educate are going to be so uncomfortable we are not going to achieve what the goal is.

6.) I'm not sure what we expect Denny's to have done. They were losing business b/c of her actions, they had complaints from more than one customer... what should they have done, what could they have done? They were between a rock and a hard place and were trying to find middle ground. This is why we need to give them a chance to try to find a solution before jumping the gun.

LM