7am. Felt like I had the place to myself. After that I headed down the
Rochdale canal for coffee in town then headed up the New Road and home.
Good Start to the day. It's a shame we have to read about what's going to
dominate the Manchester Evening News all day. The Story is regarding the
young girl who was asked not to breast feed her child on the bus. Here is the link to the story. I cannot comment on the rights and wrongs of breastfeeding as I am unaware of company policy
and know nothing of the health implications. Common sense would have
prevailed in this instance! Feel free to comment on the story though.
***************UPDATE******************
SHE LIED!!! Won't lower myself to saying too much about it.
This is why we love CCTV. Too many people feel the need to seek attention sadly and this is just one of them cases. I wonder if the 100+ comments slating us will be removed my the MEN!! I very much doubt it.
Thanks Chris, here is the revised story from the MEN. Oddly she is still harking on she was ordered off the bus? Is ODD the word i am looking for?
although i see nothing wrong with breast feeding in public, some people do. im sorry to see that this is just yet another case of the driver taking all the flack for doing what he though was best. he would have been under fire all the same if someone took offence to this girl breast feeding in public and he did nothing.
ReplyDeletei, too, was completely unaware up until i read that article what stagecoach's policy was with breast feeding on their vehicles. maybe stagecoach should make it clear before making this particular driver go through the ordeal of "disciplinary procedures" and to avoid any more drivers making the same mistake...
It's a difficult one.
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for the Drivers, as they can't ensure every boarding passenger is aware of every aspect of company policy, because it just isn't practical. On the other hand it means that they are exposed to more confrontations.
As a parent I don't see what peoples problem is with a Mother feeding her Child, because that's what breastfeeding is. What breastfeeding isn't, is a woman exposing herself - which is how some unfortunately see it.
I hope it isn't the case that the Driver or the lady on the phone was rude, because company policy or otherwise, they could have handled it better. Maybe the driver could have had a quiet word with the passenger as she was getting off the bus instead :>/
Oh dear!
ReplyDeleteWhen i first heard about this story at work this morning i thought 'typical MEN, making a drama out of nothing', but reading the story i think its a little more serious, and may show Stagecoach in a dim light. No doubt Granada and BBC North West news have latched on to this story now as well.
So many times ive seen things happening on the bus where you would expect the driver to intervine yet they sit in there cab and never say a word, and yet a young lady is doing something completly natural and is made to 'stop or get off'.
Not so long ago there was a post on this blog about a passenger not being allowed to boarda bus becuase he had a tin of paint with him, yet only last weekend someone got on the 216 at the snipe with two huge buckets of paint and the driver said nothing.
Sometimes it does feel that SOME Stagecoach drivers follow different rules to the rest.
Eazidriver, i think in this case the driver is right to get the flack and just like the First driver a few weeks ago should get the sack.
This is a head scratcher.
ReplyDeleteThe claim is she was ordered off the bus, but that is for the CCTV to decide. Judging by the driver his attitude sounds aggressive, again if the CCTV shows otherwise then this story could fall flat on its arse, and the MEN would need to apologies for running of the word of 1 person.
What if the driver thought the woman is vulnerable or her pram exposed on a crowded 216? What if more people agreed with drivers decision than against at the time? Did any other passenger complain to the driver about the woman breast feeding?
All of these questions haven't been mentioned by the MEN or by the woman herself... more an Anti stagecoach rant really but an awkward debate none the less.
I doubt whether the lady would have breast feeded her baby with the bus had been crowded.
ReplyDeleteDont get me wrong, if some woman was sat breast feeding her baby in front of me then it wouldn't be very pleasent, but the story clearly says she had a blanket over the baby's head so it was done very discreetly.
The MEN is a very anti bus paper, you only have to read the postbag every night to realise that, but these things do happen and its important there brought to the publics attention.
WOW, what a shocker.
ReplyDeleteIm very surprised that the MEN would print a story like this without checking the facts first.
I would hope Stagecoach will chase the MEN for a full printed appology.
Its a good job it was on a bus with CCTV. lol
http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1313735_bus_firm_clears_driver_in_breastfeeding_row?rss=yes&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+menews%2Fnews+%28News+-+Manchester+Evening+News+-+RSS+Feed%29
ReplyDeleteA sort of back tracking !
Thank goodness there was CCTV, otherwise it would have been her word against the driver's - and it doesn't take a genius to guess who'd be believed.
ReplyDeleteThe whole incident sounds very odd, yes. If, as the CCTV suggests, she wasn't ordered off, why would she have got off and walked home? Maybe just an attention seeker...
Here's a clickable link:
ReplyDeletehttp://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1313735_bus_firm_clears_driver_in_breastfeeding_row. (You don't need the stuff after the question mark!)
S'funny, but there's a guy who was so busy posting the same comment 4 times that he didn't notice that the story has now changed!
Good that the driver is off the hook. As for balanced reporting, well - in the main, the media are hardly renown for it are they? :>D
ReplyDeleteglad to hear that and in anwser to your Question I do not think so any sign of any new buses at Priness Rd yet
ReplyDelete