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Mom Gets Parking Ticket While Breastfeeding
When a sign says “no parking,” doesn’t that mean “no parking?” Apparently not when a woman is doing their biologically-appointed job of feeding their baby.
Women have come out in droves to protest the New York City meter reader who gave a woman a ticket for parking in a “no standing” zone so she could breastfeed her screaming baby.
Why?
She was, after all, just as guilty of a traffic infraction as anyone else in New York City who stopped for longer than it took to unload or pick up passengers (that’s the legal definition of no standing in New York State – you can stop temporarily to unload or load passengers. Period.)
Would the NY Times, Huffington Post, etc. be picking up on this story if this woman were doing the not-nearly-as-sainted act of feeding her child with a bottle? Methinks the act of breastfeeding is clouding the issue here.
She wasn’t ticketed for breastfeeding as many folks have said. She was ticketed for parking in a no standing zone. I’ve lived in New York City – you would be too.
So why are Enrique Velez and Marta Lily thinking they need extra special attention? They say the cop should have had a little extra humanity and looked the other way – they weren’t blocking anyone with their parking. What’s more, their son was HUNGRY and he wanted food – now.
I suppose the cop could have looked the other way for a hungry kid. That he didn’t, though, is neither here nor there when you consider the law. When you do the crime, folks, you do the time. He isn’t a monster for doing his job, any more than these parents were a bunch of monsters for putting themselves in a situation where they’d be in a car at mealtime (because no one thought of the child’s schedule beforehand?).
Do you think the parents should get out of their ticket?
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14 Comments
[...] the family. Second time through, I still had it, but the questions started formulating. Like the traffic cop in NYC getting all this heat for just doing his job when he gave a breastfeeding mom a parking ticket, is the bank really at fault when a family stops paying its [...]
Family Faces Foreclosure For Underpaying by 7 Cents | Strollerderby commented on Aug 11 09 at 10:06 amzaksmom commented on Aug 09 09 at 4:28 pmI’m a nursing mom, and I think the ticket should stand, unless her child was in immediate peril.
Not that special commented on Aug 09 09 at 7:04 pmAs another nursing mom, I think that this ticket should stand. Would they have stopped in a handicapped spot to nurse? I would certainly hope not. Usually, a “no standing” spot is for people that need to be dropped off such as the elderly, or deliveries for stores, or for emergency vehicle access. NYC is short on parking spaces, for sure, but I think this is just taking advantage of the particular incident.
cavale commented on Aug 09 09 at 8:36 pmjust wanted to thank you for your SANE and BALANCED coverage of this incident. keep up the good work.
Mistress_Scorpio commented on Aug 09 09 at 11:20 pmYes, the ticket should stand. Yeah, the cop should have given them a break. There’s no quota for good karma, though and you can’t count on people understanding. Also most breastfed children aren’t on “schedules,” and if they are, well at 6 months old, things can change fast. When my son was that age and I was stuck in heavy traffic on a Bronx highway with no shoulder, and it was pouring rain out and he was screaming his head off from hunger, hell, I pulled my truck up on a walkway so I could hop in the back and nurse him. I’m sure with the publicity, they will probably have plenty of volunteers to pay for the ticket. Maybe someone else can get some of that good karma.
fluin commented on Aug 10 09 at 2:17 amCommentsi
yes even though the ticket should stad. Next time It is better to find a better place such as gas station or a parking lot in shopping area. Children can wait another couple minutes.
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PlumbLucky commented on Aug 10 09 at 7:31 amThe ticket should stand. Granted, a 6 month old CAN chance schedules with absolutely no notice, but you can also plan a little better. (Note: now when an outside force over which I had no control buggered up the best laid plans, well…different matter. As in – when the Dr’s office is running 1.25 hours late, when our 3 pm appt at Sears photo didn’t happen til 4:00….you get the idea. When that kind of thing happens and I’d scheduled the little dude’s feedings around the appointment times, sorry, he’s hungry, now YOU can wait. Oh well.) No standing, Handicapped parking, Loading zone – those are all situations that don’t fly.
PlumbLucky commented on Aug 10 09 at 7:32 am(Oops…”chance” = “change”…typo)
GP commented on Aug 10 09 at 12:02 pmI am very pro-breastfeeding and pro feeding on demand…that is why I learned how to nurse while the kid is in the car seat and my husband (or whoever) is driving. She should have done the same.
Shana commented on Aug 10 09 at 1:37 pmfluin, you should know that in New York City gas stations and parking lots in a shopping area are not exactly all that existent. Hell the only gas station I knew of that was not all the way by the West Side Highway was replaced with a six story Adidas store not too long ago. Personally if I were her though I would have just let my husband drive, but then again we don’t own a car.
I did have the fun of breastfeeding my son on someone’s stoop the other day since there was no seating in the store we were shopping in. It is amazing how many people passing by made quite an effort to look in the opposite direction.
Mistress_Scorpio commented on Aug 10 09 at 8:06 pmNursing by hovering over her child in a carseat in a moving vehicle, GP? That is about the dumbest thing I’ve heard all day.
GP commented on Aug 10 09 at 8:15 pmRight. Dumb. I’ve done it plenty of times. I wouldn’t say “hovering”. The fat and inflexible probably couldn’t do it. Oh well.
Marj commented on Aug 10 09 at 8:23 pmEh, you makes your choices. Having decided to park, she made the decision that her child’s hunger was worth the ticket.
rose commented on Oct 03 11 at 3:37 pmwoo woo i believe it an long trip to the next gas place tell the baby that too.
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