(no subject)

[rivka]

Michael's company owns four season tickets to the Baltimore Orioles. The partners get first dibs on them, for personal use or business entertaining, but the rest of the staff can put their names in for any unclaimed tickets. Michael won a pair of tickets for Sunday afternoon's game.

We'd been meaning to take Alex to her first ballgame sometime this summer, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. She sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" all the way from church to the light rail stop, and from the light rail to the stadium.

They were good seats. Right at third base. On the club level, where you can order food and have it brought to your seat or visit a dedicated club-level concession stand. Club level, where the concourse is air-conditioned and has couches and big-screen TVs in case you want to cool off without missing any of the game. Club level, where the bathrooms are clean. I had never been up there before. We got to walk past the private box with the presidential seal on the door.

We had figured that third-base club-level seating would be shaded. Unfortunately, when we came out from the concourse we discovered that the first three rows were sunny, and our seats were right in the first row. But I didn't even have time to start worrying about the sun. (Colin is too young to use sunscreen.) As soon as the usher caught sight of us, he bustled over. "Your seats are... okay, let's put you up here. We may need to move you around a little, but we'll keep that baby in the shade. Your seats should be shaded after the first inning." (They actually weren't shaded until the fourth, but there were plenty of unclaimed seats in our section, so we had no trouble staying in the shade until then.)

I settled in to my seat and started to nurse Colin. Moments later, the usher came over and started talking to Michael. I saw him point at us and cringed, thinking that he was probably telling Michael I couldn't nurse there. But in fact he was saying: "Is this the baby's first game? Be sure to stop by the concierge desk - they'll give him a certificate."

Awww.

The game moved along pretty briskly, because neither team could hit a damn thing. (The O's eventually solved that problem by putting Danys Baez in as a relief picher. Everyone can hit off him.) I had been prepared to ditch the game in mid-progress, but Alex actually lasted until the very end. Colin had a less-good time - he was fussy, wanted to sleep, couldn't sleep. It might have just been too hot for him.

I had a barbecue sandwich and a really tasty beer. We admired the new scoreboard (Okay, it's not new. We just haven't been to a game in years.) and enjoyed the city view beyond the outfield. It was a very pleasant afternoon.

Comments

[wcg.livejournal.com]

So what does Alex think of baseball now?

[ororo.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a fabulous time!

[berkeleyfarm.livejournal.com]

that. is. awesome.

[curiousangel.livejournal.com]

I think Colin's problem was actually something along the lines of, "Mama, there's a lot of noise, and these strange people keep beating their hands together and yelling. Don't they know that only babies are allowed to do that? Anyway, I'm trying to sleep, so I'm not happy!!!"

Overall, I was very pleased with the way all the ballpark staff were very conscious of trying to make it a pleasant experience for everyone, and in particular with how considerate they were of our specific family issues. I'm pretty sure the folks at Fan & Ticket Services won't remember me -- after all, it's been five years since I worked there, but I still intend to drop them a letter to let them know how much we enjoyed the day.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

My own nursing career was decades ago, but I admit to surprise that anyone would think "I'm going to be told I can't nurse my baby here in this public space." Such a thing never happened to me back in the dark ages of the 1970s. I'm sorry that you considered the possibility.

K.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I have never had anything but positive reactions when I've nursed Colin in public - although sometimes they were positive reactions I could've done without, as when I was on the plane getting ready to fly with him to Boston and someone whipped out her cell phone and reported, loudly, "There's a little baby on the plane! He's nursing right now!" (She sounded pleased, but it was still something I could've done without announcing to the world.) And Maryland law protects my right to nurse wherever Colin and I are otherwise allowed to be.

But it's clear from public/media discussions about breastfeeding that there are plenty of people out there who are distressed and offended when it happens in public. And in the Internet age, when someone gets told not to breastfeed, everyone hears about it. So I'm aware, for example, that a mother was asked to leave an indoor playground right here in Maryland, a few weeks ago, because she was nursing an infant while she watched her older children play. Thirty years ago I probably never would've heard about that incident.

[treadpath.livejournal.com]

What a lovely day!!! :D

[acceberskoorb.livejournal.com]

That sounds great! I kept looking around at the club level to see if I could spot y'all, but never did. We were in the upper reserve behind home plate, so I wouldn't have been able to see you anyhow. I've been quite surprised with how pleasant the upper reserves are. The way up seats have nice shade and a good breeze when there is one. And I sure do love the view. It's so neat that Alex made it all the way through!