# Dear paper towel filler person....or non-Christmas mini-rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 25, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389 "2010-12-25T23:54:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/481 "2011-02-03T23:41:24Z")
Curlcoat, You don’t have any children, you don’t like children, and except for babysitting a couple of siblings, which would have been what, thirty years ago? you have no experience with children. Just quit trying to tell parents what is good or not good for their own babies. Your opinions are your opinions. You have a right to hold them, but that doesn’t make them valid. You want to sing in my ear? Shut up. You’re interfering with my hearing anything else. You want to start a fight with your husband? If it’s verbal, the same thing applies. If it’s physical, you’re endangering those around you. You want to pick your nose? Don’t wipe the boogers on me or my seat. Any other stupid analogies you want to come up with? There is nothing about nursing a baby that directly affects you in any way. You just happen not to like it. Good luck with going through life not having to deal with anything you don’t like. You think that just because people didn’t nurse babies in public (where you could see them, anyway) ten or fifteen years ago, that’s the way it should be. There was a time when pretty much every woman was expected to have children and stay home with them. Shall we start a campaign to go back to that time in history? Sorry, your vision of what the world should be doesn’t carry that much weight. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/482 "2011-02-03T23:41:51Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > \ > I just wanted to add that keeping babies (and puppies, for that matter) at home and not exposing them to noisy or different environments doesn’t allow them to develop certain skills, such as the ability to be around a crowd (or, in a social setting, to be handled by multiple people), the ability to fall asleep when it’s noisy, the chance to look at different and interesting things. \ Dear God, let’s not go there again. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/483 "2011-02-03T23:42:59Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Yes it is my discomfort, but it is one that many many people share and it is one that has only recently (last 10 years?) been thrust upon the general public. Like racial slurs, children dressed like streetwalkers and people changing diapers on tables, if it is pointed out often enough that women dragging breastfeeding babies all over isn’t a good thing, it may end up that it is no longer socially acceptable for women to expect everyone else to help them raise their babies. Where to begin? (1) Only in the last ten years? I’m not sure what rock you crawled out from under ten years ago, but babies have been nursed since the dawn of humanity, and I’ve seen it happening in public since I was old enough to notice (and I’m 52). (2) You’re equating discrete breastfeeding with racial slurs and changing babies in public? Really? (3) I disagree with your premise that “women dragging breastfeeding babies all over isn’t a good thing.” Babies are highly portable. They’re easy to transport and the more socializing they do early, the easier it is later. If you don’t like it, _don’t look_! (4) How, exactly, is someone nursing a baby in the same room with you “expecting everyone else to help raise the baby”? ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/484 "2011-02-03T23:43:49Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > Apparently there’s a huge contingent of breast feeding mommies following poor **Curlcoat** around and forcing her to look at their disgusting breasts. Let us all feel sorry for her as she desperately tries to avoid the horrifying sight of discreetly nursing women and their openly displayed babies. You are just bound and determined to display your low IQ aren’t you? Such as, did I say I was being followed around by mommies? No. Did anything I’ve said about what happened at Starbucks sound like “discreetly nursing”? No. Do you sound like the sort of twit that thinks that simply because she can reproduce, the rest of the world should conform to her demands? Yes. You aren’t doing much to elevate my opinion of mommies. ---
**Author:** ![deb2world](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@deb2world](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deb2world)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/485 "2011-02-03T23:50:09Z")
So this thread has devolved into a debate on the merits of breats feeding in public rather than one to gripe about petty irritants? You know what happened to me today? I had to read somewhere where people did not agree to disagree. I was bummed out. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/486 "2011-02-03T23:52:29Z")
My back hurts. My job makes my back hurt. Why doesn’t my back get stronger instead of just getting sore? ---
**Author:** ![deb2world](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@deb2world](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deb2world)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/487 "2011-02-03T23:54:51Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > My back hurts. My job makes my back hurt. Why doesn’t my back get stronger instead of just getting sore? Now you are just goin into the GQ arena 🙂 (That is a great question) ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/488 "2011-02-04T00:00:16Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > You are just bound and determined to display your low IQ aren’t you? Such as, did I say I was being followed around by mommies? No. Did anything I’ve said about what happened at Starbucks sound like “discreetly nursing”? No. Do you sound like the sort of twit that thinks that simply because she can reproduce, the rest of the world should conform to her demands? Yes. You aren’t doing much to elevate my opinion of mommies. You’re comparing breast feeding women to people who utter racial slurs . . . and you’re questioning my IQ? Did all those napkin sandwiches really destroy that many of your brain cells? You saw a woman nursing in public near you. You insanely decided this action was highly offensive and inexcusably rude. You got up and moved. And now you’ve decided that all moms are twits forcing you to raise their babies. Yeah. That makes sense. On another note my rant of the day is against Comcast. The nitwit tech was supposed to show up between 9 and 11 am. He finally showed up shortly after 1 pm today and then shut down my internet service without warning for half an hour. Nice work, jackass. Fortunately I have alternative service because I work at home and need backups but that was not the way to introduce me to your allegedly great service. I suppose I should be grateful he actually allowed me to authorize service from my home in my own name. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/489 "2011-02-04T00:00:42Z")
> [@thirdwarning](#): > > Curlcoat, > You don’t have any children, you don’t like children, and except for babysitting a couple of siblings, I raised them from about six months to age 7 & 8. Hardly babysitting. > [@](#): > > which would have been what, thirty years ago? you have no experience with children. Just quit trying to tell parents what is good or not good for their own babies. Your opinions are your opinions. You have a right to hold them, but that doesn’t make them valid. Go back and actually read what I post. When I’ve said something about baby care, it’s been as a question or along the lines of “it’s hard for me to believe it’s good for a baby to X”. And the funny thing? No one bothers to respond to that. > [@](#): > > You want to sing in my ear? Shut up. You’re interfering with my hearing anything else. You want to start a fight with your husband? If it’s verbal, the same thing applies. If it’s physical, you’re endangering those around you. You want to pick your nose? Don’t wipe the boogers on me or my seat. Yet you defend the right of parents to allow their kids to “interfere” with my hearing? > [@](#): > > There is nothing about nursing a baby that directly affects you in any way. There is nothing about my not appreciating it that directly affects you in any way. > [@](#): > > You think that just because people didn’t nurse babies in public (where you could see them, anyway) ten or fifteen years ago, that’s the way it should be. Try reading what I wrote. The claim was those who breastfeed must drag the baby around with them all the time and I countered with public breastfeeding hasn’t been common (in the US) until relatively recently. > [@](#): > > There was a time when pretty much every woman was expected to have children and stay home with them. Shall we start a campaign to go back to that time in history? Shrug. Works for me. Seems like if mommy would stay home with the kids a bit more often, more of them might turn out to be better people. [quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:483, topic:565389”] Where to begin? (1) Only in the last ten years? I’m not sure what rock you crawled out from under ten years ago, but babies have been nursed since the dawn of humanity, and I’ve seen it happening in public since I was old enough to notice (and I’m 52). [/quote] That’s nice. Doesn’t apply to anything I said tho. > [@](#): > > (2) You’re equating discrete breastfeeding with racial slurs and changing babies in public? Really? No, I responded to someone who did. And once again, it was hardly discrete. > [@](#): > > (3) I disagree with your premise that “women dragging breastfeeding babies all over isn’t a good thing.” Babies are highly portable. They’re easy to transport and the more socializing they do early, the easier it is later. If you don’t like it, _don’t look_! I couldn’t avoid it, until I got up and left. As for the rest of that, I still haven’t seen anyone say that it is _safe_ and _healthy_ to have a month or so old baby out in public for an extended length of time. Particularly for no good reason. > [@](#): > > (4) How, exactly, is someone nursing a baby in the same room with you “expecting everyone else to help raise the baby”? It’s part of the whole. Society is expected to be happy to have babies everywhere, pay for all of the things that make mommy’s life easier, ignore property damage by children, pay to raise children that their parents had no business having, etc. Anybody at all can have a baby and if they can’t afford it, don’t know what to do, aren’t in the mood, the automatic assumption is that innocent bystanders who had no choice in the matter will pick up the slack. All of which people who claim to love babies think is OK… > [@deb2world](#): > > ``` > So this thread has devolved into a debate on the merits of breats feeding in public rather than one to gripe about petty irritants? > > ``` > > You know what happened to me today? I had to read somewhere where people did not agree to disagree. I was bummed out. Sorry. For some reason I’m not allowed to rant about being swamped by 12 year old girls and flashed by a nursing mom. People complain about my posts, yet they can’t seem to wait to tell me how wrong I am to have opinions that don’t match theirs. ---
**Author:** ![deb2world](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@deb2world](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deb2world)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/490 "2011-02-04T00:08:35Z")
Let me tell you, **curcoat** , a great secret I learned ages ago while visiting message boards – when people attacks you then respond to them. When they do it again, turn off the computer, go for a nice walk/read/watch a good tv show/do something fun, ignore what they have to say, it is good for your soul and makes the message board experience so much funner and it drives those disagreeing with your opinion bonkers. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/491 "2011-02-04T00:11:41Z")
> [@deb2world](#): > > Let me tell you, **curcoat** , a great secret I learned ages ago while visiting message boards – when people attacks you then respond to them. When they do it again, turn off the computer, go for a nice walk/read/watch a good tv show/do something fun, ignore what they have to say, it is good for your soul and makes the message board experience so much funner and it drives those disagreeing with your opinion bonkers. Nothing drives me more insane than curlcoat disappearing. You’re so right. MY GOD, I CAN BARELY TAKE IT. My life, my identity, they depend on her! She’s the wind beneath my wings! _sob_ CURLCOAT, COME BAAAAAAAACK! ---
**Author:** ![deb2world](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@deb2world](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deb2world)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/492 "2011-02-04T00:15:07Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Nothing drives me more insane than curlcoat disappearing. You’re so right. MY GOD, I CAN BARELY TAKE IT. My life, my identity, they depend on her! She’s the wind beneath my wings! > > _sob_ > > CURLCOAT, COME BAAAAAAAACK! That was so unnecessary. So she doesn’t like breast feeding momma’s sitting next to her especially if she feels she was conned into having one sit there, not the end of the world. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/493 "2011-02-04T00:16:34Z")
> [@deb2world](#): > > That was so unnecessary. So she doesn’t like breast feeding momma’s sitting next to her especially if she feels she was conned into having one sit there, not the end of the world. deb2world, COME BAAAAAAAAACK! Oh, you haven’t left yet. I got antsy. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/494 "2011-02-04T00:24:35Z")
“Yet you defend the right of parents to allow their kids to “interfere” with my hearing?” A baby eating interferes with your hearing? Who’s not reading for comprehension now? “Shrug. Works for me. Seems like if mommy would stay home with the kids a bit more often, more of them might turn out to be better people.” Did you miss, or just choose to ignore, the part that said ‘pretty much every woman’? It’s not about your preference that mothers with children should be isolated at home, it’s about the idea that every woman has children and that’s her job. Nice miss there on the comprehension again. You made the claim that your mother managed to breastfeed four children without ever once doing it in public, and then went right on to say that you don’t even think the first two of you were breastfed, and that she left the other two with you two older ones when she went out, which would sort of indicate that they weren’t breastfed all that long, if at all, either. So just stop making those kind of statements, okay? You don’t know what you’re talking about and you can’t even keep a story straight. Face it. You had a dysfunctional childhood. It screwed up your ideas about children and childrearing. And now you want everyone else to go along with your screwed up ideas. You’re perfectly entitled to hold any opinion you please. Just don’t complain when other people disagree or don’t live by it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/495 "2011-02-04T00:25:36Z")
> [@LilyoftheField](#): > > Oh, of course - Seinfeld! :smack: That’s the only place I’ve ever heard the word ‘catfight’ used! Oh, wait…I never watched Seinfeld! (which around here probably deserves derision in and of itself…) ::reowr:: ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/496 "2011-02-04T00:31:24Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > My back hurts. My job makes my back hurt. Why doesn’t my back get stronger instead of just getting sore? Probably because your job puts you into situations that put pain-causing types of strain on your back muscles, rather than muscle-toning types. I’ve heard there are some exercises that can help with this, and I hope you’re successful at finding out what they are and benefiting from them. Meanwhile, good luck getting any significant attention to your complaint in this thread. [Who’s up for a new mini-rants thread?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13427161#post13427161) ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/497 "2011-02-04T01:07:06Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Get a fucking grip. Or watch the Seinfeld episode from whence the comment came. The description predates Seinfeld by a significant amount. And I’ve got a grip, thanks. I didn’t freak out, didn’t call names, just made a statement. > [@lindsaybluth](#): > > Has someone been taking their gender studies classes too seriously lately? Please see above. I didn’t make a big ol’ feminist stink about it, just a statement. And I teach gender studies, not take them. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/498 "2011-02-04T01:31:50Z")
> [@deb2world](#): > > Let me tell you, **curcoat** , a great secret I learned ages ago while visiting message boards – when people attacks you then respond to them. When they do it again, turn off the computer, go for a nice walk/read/watch a good tv show/do something fun, ignore what they have to say, it is good for your soul and makes the message board experience so much funner and it drives those disagreeing with your opinion bonkers. Well, I’m leaving for Phoenix in a few hours and need to get ready, and get a nap in. so I was going to have to ignore these nuts anyway! 😃 > [@thirdwarning](#): > > A baby eating interferes with your hearing? Who’s not reading for comprehension now? You. > [@](#): > > Did you miss, or just choose to ignore, the part that said ‘pretty much every woman’? It’s not about your preference that mothers with children should be isolated at home, it’s about the idea that every woman has children and that’s her job. Nice miss there on the comprehension again. Huh? You aren’t making any sense - not every woman had children even back then. > [@](#): > > You made the claim that your mother managed to breastfeed four children without ever once doing it in public, and then went right on to say that you don’t even think the first two of you were breastfed, and that she left the other two with you two older ones when she went out, which would sort of indicate that they weren’t breastfed all that long, if at all, either. So just stop making those kind of statements, okay? You don’t know what you’re talking about and you can’t even keep a story straight. Pay attention - I said my mother managed to _raise_ four children without breastfeeding in public. I have no idea if I or the brother who was a year younger were breastfed at all, but I tend to doubt it since she went right back to work. Dunno. > [@](#): > > Face it. You had a dysfunctional childhood. It screwed up your ideas about children and childrearing. And now you want everyone else to go along with your screwed up ideas. Probably, and no. All I wanted in that rant was the opportunity to sit quietly and rest in that coffee shop, looking at my lap top and sipping my coffee. I simply saw no reason to haul a young childrens basketball team in there, nor for some woman to sit right next to me and flash me over and over. > [@](#): > > You’re perfectly entitled to hold any opinion you please. Just don’t complain when other people disagree or don’t live by it. And yet you don’t follow what you preach? Huh. > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Meanwhile, good luck getting any significant attention to your complaint in this thread. > > [Who’s up for a new mini-rants thread?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13427161#post13427161) Good idea. I was going to suggest it myself since these folks can’t seem to let the subject go. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/499 "2011-02-04T02:46:42Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > The description predates Seinfeld by a significant amount. And I’ve got a grip, thanks. I didn’t freak out, didn’t call names, just made a statement. MY comment, okay? The humor-impaired are such a PITA. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389/500 "2011-02-04T02:48:51Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > MY comment, okay? The humor-impaired are such a PITA. I love it when people assume others have NO sense of humor at all because they happen to not find ONE PARTICULAR THING not funny. That, I find funny. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-paper-towel-filler-person-or-non-christmas-mini-rants/565389.md?page=26)