misuse of baby changing room
- Thread starter Ai li
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I think that if you frequent IFC that much, it's worth writing a formal complaint. Telling the manager on duty verbally will not have the same impact as sending a letter. Indicate the date & time of incident. You can only speculate what they do in there and you have no evidence of inappropriate behaviour. You can say that it is a misuse since they have no baby & mention the inconvenience it has caused.
I think IFC management won't want their public facilities to be turned into a place for a quickie. Perhaps tell them to put up signs on the door that these changing facilities are strictly for baby changing & feeding & CCTV cameras are in use (and videos will be posted on YouTube if they don't get a room!)
I think IFC management won't want their public facilities to be turned into a place for a quickie. Perhaps tell them to put up signs on the door that these changing facilities are strictly for baby changing & feeding & CCTV cameras are in use (and videos will be posted on YouTube if they don't get a room!)
I'll just assume you're not calling me fat. :bawling:
But....where I come from some of the smallest people have the most fight in them.
Great idea. This is where a photo of the couple leaving the room sans baby would be great to include. Yeah, I think that it's really gross that people would use the room for that purpose but even if it's not for that purpose it's still wrong. I think that breastfeeding women should get first dibs on those rooms anyway--especially the ones designed to sit down and feed in. I did happen to have to knock really hard on the door that was locked at such a mall last week and found a grandma in there feeding the baby with a bottle. Why do you need to lock the door? Really irritating as I was looking for a place to breastfeed.
2010-NewDad
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I know that would upset my wife and I suspect it would annoy lots of other women too - if they are quietly breastfeeding and some unknown stranger started banging on the door and hassling them when they are at a vulnerable time. Usage of these shared facilities is a privilege, not a right and if it is occupied then you should wait in line like everyone else instead of shouting and making a fuss.
And now you're going to demand them to produce their baby so you can let them continue breastfeeding uninterrupted? I have to say I find this type of anti-social behaviour extremely rude.
Although the couples are probably using the room for a hook-up (highly annoying), they could well argue, if challenged, that the woman was pumping, which is also a legitimate use of the room. I think letter to IFC is the way to go - though what action they could take is also questionable. A CCTV in the room would be undesirable; one outside the room wouldn't help.
By banging on the door, one might be disturbing someone doing something legitimate - like pumping, or even bottle feeding a troublesome eater. I never get why people bang on toilet doors - if one is taking a while it's usually because of something unpleasant like a tummy upset; rarely is one taking a snooze in there.
By banging on the door, one might be disturbing someone doing something legitimate - like pumping, or even bottle feeding a troublesome eater. I never get why people bang on toilet doors - if one is taking a while it's usually because of something unpleasant like a tummy upset; rarely is one taking a snooze in there.
2010-NewDad
Registered User
I am curious to know what actions you think could work in these circumstances - a guard outside the door?
carang
Registered User
to be honest, i don't know what would work. i've, personally never encountered the problem. i always fed when and where my kids were hungry. i never once used such a room. i also never had a single person point at me or stare. i was careful as to what clothing i wore and i never even used a shawl. i figured that would draw more attention to the fact that i was breastfeeding.
maybe a key to get from customer service? but that would mean that there would have to be a customer service counter nearby.
maybe a key to get from customer service? but that would mean that there would have to be a customer service counter nearby.
Okay, first, I don't think breastfeeding is a "vulnerable time" but that's just my opinion. Second, there is something called respect and I have yet to wait for a long time, knock on a door (not "bang" on a door as you implied) and find a shy, disheveled breastfeeding woman inside cringing. If I did encounter such a woman, I would apologize profusely for interrupting her as I know what it's like to feel disheveled and vulnerable sometimes (however, not while breastfeeding usually). Most of the time (99.999%) I just choose to breastfeed in public because, well, I don't live where the "fancy shmancy" breastfeeding rooms are at in HK (and that is completely fine by me). I've breastfed on moving MTR trains, a scary bus ride coming down from the Peak, ferries, trams, Cha Chan Tings, park benches...pretty much everywhere imaginable in HK. I'm not "demanding" anything that isn't intended for my use in the first place as a breastfeeding woman. And you imply that I'm shouting and causing a scene. Nope. Giving someone the "what for" can sometimes be little more than "the look."
When I seek out a room like this it is for a very good and urgent reason. The couple of times I've knocked on the door as in, "Is there anyone still alive in there?" it has ALWAYS been someone with a bottle in hand or even just in there changing the baby's diaper (for 20 minutes?!) without feeding the baby at all. There's one thing to wait and then there's another thing to wait for 30-40 minutes while someone occupies the room who has no business holding it up. I have never encountered a breastfeeding woman in any of these rooms. Also, women like myself know how to appropriately approach other women in such a space. In the bathroom we might rap lightly on the door--it has happened to me many a time.
And a few of the rooms are the types that have a larger waiting area for bottle fed babies and a changing area and then three or four private rooms for breastfeeding--all have grandmas in them feeding with bottles or helpers feeding with bottles. No need for privacy when you feed with a bottle, in my opinion. Inexcusable and very rude. Why do they keep doing that? Because everyone is just patiently waiting in line and no one ever says anything about it--very classic behavior in HK--suffer in silence while rude people just do whatever they want because they can.
What is more anti-social? Sitting in a room intended primarily for breastfeeding women when you 1) don't need to breastfeed 2) or even don't have a baby at all with you (as with the couples using it for "private time") or trying to access such a room because 1) you do have a baby 2) you need to breastfeed that baby.
I think you're reading way more into my post than was there. I think you imagine me to be some barbarian but of course, I'm not. I'm a breastfeeding woman who thinks that private breastfeeding stalls should be used only by breastfeeding women. I also think that handicapped stalls in bathroom should be used by handicapped people.
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