The Milk Lounge

I've been back to the grind for two weeks now. My brain still has a layer of foggy film over it, but I think I'm getting up to speed on most things. One thing I wish I could change ... what I've affectionately come to call the milk lounge. Of course, because I was delayed in putting in my request for a locker, I am stuck lugging my pump back and forth from my desk to the milk lounge. (Which is situated on a different floor.) Now, I have to say I am lucky that my company has multiple milk lounges available (but they should considering how many of their employees are women of the child-bearing age.) So, in the lounge I tend to frequent, there are a total of six stalls for other lactating professionals.

Now, here's what frustrates me ... or maybe makes me sad. What goes on in those stalls. In addition to lactating, it is the biggest mess of multi-tasking you've ever seen. The other day the women in the stall next to me definitely had her laptop in there with her. (I couldn't even visualize how she was maneuvering a laptop and a pump, so clearly a master at the multi-tasking.) And that was okay, there was just the occasional beeping as she was messing around. It's the ones who are taking care of all their phone calls. I don't really want to hear their frustration with the personal matters in their life ... and of course, for the most part, their identity is secret ... but hearing someone get into a dispute with their spouse over the phone ... not pretty.

At least the multitude of pumps provides a consistent orchestra. As for me ... I find myself either reading a magazine, playing bejeweled or some other game on my palm (at least this way I see if an email comes in) or editing some speech, article or other written material. Hey, I came up with a good ending for a speech for my boss during one session. I guess that that means I am a multi-tasker, too.