Bathroom Behavior Observation #11

Wow, I haven't done one of these in a long time.  For a while everything was kind of status quo in the bathroom at work.  There weren't any new lotions, signs, or people talking in the stall to themselves or on the phone.  But, the last couple of months there has been a new happening.

In the past I never really "got" why corporations provided those nursing rooms/maternity rooms, whatever they're called.  I didn't understand why recent mothers had a strong desire for one.  But, as Steve B. used to say, "I'm coming to understand...."  How I've come to understand this is through experience.  Before Christmas, one day I went into the bathroom for my usual mid-morning relieving, and I heard this mechanical, rhythmic *whirring* kind of sound.  At first I thought maybe it was some kind of new air handler or some machinery in the walls or room next door that was making the sound, but after a bit I realized that there was someone in the handicapped stall using a breast pump.

Obviously my company is a bit old-fashioned and doesn't have one of those nursing rooms.  So, pumping at work seems like it could get awkward, right?  Do you sit in the stained cushioned chair near the entrance to pump?  Probably not.  First, everybody who goes in and out would get a good look.  Second, if someone was walking down the hall at the right moment when the entrance door swung open, they could possibly get a small glimpse.  I think the angles might be such that it couldn't happen (I haven't measured them to be sure), but the door is kind of close to the sitting chair and may cause an unwanted breeze.  The only other place to sit is in a stall, which is what this lady has chosen to do.  So, I only see her when she's at the sink bottling up the harvest.

All around, there isn't much privacy on either side.  She may not want me listening to that private moment, and I try not to imagine too much of what is going on.  The moral of the story is that they have nursing rooms to give the mother some privacy.  This may also be why women's restrooms often have some kind of sitting area and men's restrooms don't.  Well, that, plus sometimes we need to go in there to swoon - but that would be an entirely separate post.