6 Pitfalls Of Pumping While Working At A Restaurant
1. Hearing “Why don’t you just use formula?” every single day
I seriously had to hear this question at least once a day from some of my less-than-supportive co-workers.
2. Pumping in a filthy bathroom
If there’s one thing Manhattan restaurants are lacking, it’s space. The place I worked at was tiny, and the back of house area was even tinier. The only place I could pump in privacy was this tiny, filthy bathroom at the back of the building. Again, not fun.
3. Losing my lunch break
For the entire year that I pumped at work I lost out on a comfortable lunch break because my 30 minute break was the only time I could pump. I mean, sure I could have scarfed down a sandwich or some chips while pumping, but who wants to eat in a filthy bathroom? Hell, I felt bad using the milk that I pumped in there, but at least I was able to keep it clean by not letting it touch anything (I pumped directly into a sanitized baggie thingy). No way I could do that with a cheeseburger or whatever.
4. Manual pumping sucks
When I say that this bathroom was tiny, I mean TINY. And the break area in this place was non-existent. Which means there was no place to store or use the fancy shmancy electric pump I had on loan from WIC. And since, again, I was a 20-year-old student with an infant, I couldn’t afford a portable one, which left me with one option – a crappy manual pump that took forever and hurt like a mofo.
5. Sexual harrassment
I ended up leaving this job over some serious sexual harassment issues on the part of a 17-year-veteran employee, but he was hardly the only guy to make sexual comments towards me. Especially when I needed to, or was trying to pump. There’s not like hearing three sous chefs chant “lemme see those titties” to get you amp-ed for pumping. NOT. And of course the managers did nothing.
6. Painful boobs
Unfortunately, due to a hectic schedule and a huge volume of customers, there were plenty of days when I got no break at all (looking back, I’m not sure how this place is still open, considering all the laws they broke). If you’ve ever been a breastfeeding mom, I’m sure you know how painful it can be not to pump or nurse for an entire 8-hour-shift. Sometimes, in the winter when I was wearing a heavy coat, I would put ice packs in my shirt on top of my bra on the subway ride home. It was that painful.
(Photo: Draw/Shutterstock)