We have this really high end course to be conducted at an exclusive club where only members of the club are able to use and book their facilities. It is so exclusive that mobile phones are to be switched off at all times, and are only able to use it at designated areas such as carkparks and the lobby beside the luggage counter. Not to mention, the minimum dress code required here is smart casual and we mean no jeans and sneakers. My trainer did the booking for me since she was a member there. One of the participants was a breast-feeding mother, and she emailed and asked if there is a room for her to express her milk and if the club could lend her the fridge to store her milk. My trainer said that there isn't any proper rooms for expressing milk and she could do it in the ladies. Storage of milk is not a problem as long as it is contained properly in bottles AND bags (not 2 sachets of milk please..). I relayed the message to the participant and she came back asking if she could use the meeting room instead and not the ladies due to bacteria. Well, I am not sure if she is just lacked of common sense, but I knew it was not possible because if I was a CEO of an exclusive club, I want to retain the image of my club. A club has their facilities and services catered to a specific group of people. We aren't a shopping mall here. Any meeting rooms would be used for solely business purposes, which meant they rent it out. I wish she could understand, but apparently not. If I am not wrong, the club would not be agreeable to this, unless there is no booking on that day, and even then, let's not assume that they will be doing that. So if unfortunately rooms are being used, then she has to go find a place to do her stuff. But it really made me think, if being a breast feeding mother means you can cause inconvenience to others with your condition? And does it mean it gives you special previledges? I know breast feeding mothers might think, wait till you're a mother! But if I am a mother, I would want to get my own business done at home and not having to worry that I have to find a place to express and store milk and etc. In the middle of training, at an external venue, and having people to give up a meeting room for you, and getting the waiter to get your milk back from the freezer. Geez, I don't think I can do that. I am just not that kind of person here.

End of Rant.

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