Leftovers Are Good

1. Further to my post about the mommy-haters over at Delta Airlines… Delta has apparently apologized and ‘disciplined’ the flight attendant who insisted that the nursing mother and her family be ejected from their flight (no word, however, on what kind of ‘discipline’ was imposed.) As I noted in my post on that subject, one of the things that really bothered me about the story was Delta’s initial reaction – their statement that they support a woman’s right to breastfeed discreetly. (To which, as I said last post and in vitriolic comments across the momosphere – wtf is indiscreet breastfeeding? And, since when should someone’s squeamishness around boobies quash the right of a child to comfort and nutrition?)

Anyhoo. It got me thinking – to what extent do I take for granted my right to nurse in public, in Canada? Are those rights limited by some fuzzy notion of discretion? So I contacted Air Canada to find out what, exactly, their policy on breastfeeding is. I really sort of expected a swift, affirmative response – no restrictions on that right! What I got was – um, Customer Care can’t answer that question. Please try Reservations. At Reservations – you are the 36th caller. Please hold for the next operator. Then – Please try Customer Care. Customer Care (in response to e-mail requesting DIRECT contact information for someone who could answer the question) – silence.

I don’t know know that they’re putting me off. They are, after all, a bloated publicly-supported corporation, and probably incapable of answering any question directly. Still – the fact that after a week of effort I still don’t have an answer to my question unnerves me.

Stay tuned. In the meantime, you can read Mouse’s excellent discussion of the issue.

2. Further to my post on the seemingly overwhelming whiteness/homogeneity of the Canadian momosphere… many of you expressed, in comments or by e-mail, sympathetic curiosity: where are the bloggers who don’t fit neatly into the white-middle-class model of the modern Canadian mommy-blogger? But nobody had any answers (aside from Joanne, who reminded me that she is a single mom and so outside the married-mom model. Which I already knew, and am smacking myself on forehead for forgetting about Joanne.)

So, um – anyone? Links, please, if you know of anybody.

3. Further to other random stuff… I have withdrawn my name from the list of finalists for the Canadian Blog Awards. I’m still cheering on my peeps, but I decided that I didn’t want to play the awards game and that I didn’t want to explicitly or implicitly support the idea that my blog might have more merit if I could marshall votes. My blog has merit because I like it, and because so many wonderful, thoughtful readers engage with it. That’s enough for me.