A teenage boy might be the person that you’d least expect to step in when this happened to a struggling mum.
Finally – a breastfeeding-shaming story that has a very happy ending.
Julia Wykes was out with her 5-month-old son when she decided to get a drink from Starbucks. While waiting, her little bub became cranky and so she did what any mother in her situation would.
She sat down and breastfed him.
What happened next is ridiculous. A female customer went to the cashier and complained…about Julia breastfeeding.
Wykes told SheKnows.com “She said in a very loud voice (I was obviously meant to hear), ‘Could you get that woman to stop doing that in public? It is disgusting.'”
The teenage barista told the complaining woman that he would take care of it.
Just when Wykes thought she was about to get booted out of Starbucks and formed an argument in her head “Not just about the fact that breastfeeding is a legally protected right in Ontario Canada, but also that surely a nursing mum is better than a screaming baby!” the young man (reportedly around 18 or 19) came over and offered her a free refill on her drink.
Wait, there’s more.
And a voucher for a free drink the next time she came in.
Wait, it gets even better.
And he apologised that she had to deal with such a rude woman.
Needless to say, the complaining woman left in a hurry.
“At first I was flabbergasted by the woman’s response to public breastfeeding,” Wykes said. “To have a young man be more kind and informed than a middle-aged woman who may have had children herself was a shock. And while it may be a huge multinational company, I am glad that such a positive experience occurred in a Starbucks, it shows that they employ good people.”
The story was shared on Wyke’s local Attachment Parenting group’s Facebook page, Phd in Parenting, who has so far received almost 28,000 likes and over 1,100 comments in support of the young man.
We hope this sets the scene for all future breastfeeding in public situations. And we also just want to say "Go Starbucks".
Did you have some surprising support when you were out with a new baby?
Here are some incredible photos of breastfeeding placed on social media by ordinary mums and famous celebrity mums. CLICK THROUGH the gallery:
Do you have a breastfeeding in public story? Share it below.
Want more? Try these:
18 things we wish we’d known about breastfeeding.
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