A woman in a shopping mall caused a real scene because I was trying to breastfeed my child, but soon something happened after which she deeply regretted her behavior 

I truly believed that we live in an age where breastfeeding in public no longer causes hysteria. An age where people understand that if you are a mother and your child is crying from hunger, the first thing you think about is how to comfort your baby, not what others might think.

But reality turned out to be different.

This happened quite recently, in a shopping mall. I was sitting on a bench when my baby started to fuss — that cry you can never confuse with anything else. I immediately understood: she was hungry. Calmly, I draped a blanket over myself, positioned myself so that nothing could be seen, and began to feed her. Everything was as discreet as possible — quiet, calm, unnoticed.

Next to me sat a woman with a child. An ordinary woman. A mother. Someone who, it seemed, had once breastfed her own child too.

And suddenly — a shout.

— Hey! What are you doing?! Go to the bathroom! There are people here, have you no shame?!

At first, I didn’t even realize she was speaking to me. Because of her shouting, my baby, who had just started to calm down, burst into tears again.

— Please, lower your voice… I’m just feeding my baby. You can’t see anything, — I said calmly. — How am I supposed to feed her in a bathroom?

But the woman wouldn’t stop.

— Go to the bathroom! I don’t want my daughter to see this disgusting thing!

— What disgusting thing? — I could no longer hide my confusion. — I’m not undressing, I’m just feeding my child.

— I raised a daughter too! — she raised her voice. — But I never undressed wherever I wanted! This is a public place! Get out of here!

People began to turn around. The baby cried louder and louder — not from hunger, but from her shouting. My hands were shaking. The bag was heavy, the baby in my arms, and there was a lump in my throat.

I had to stand up and leave. I walked, trying at the same time to hold my baby, my bag, and keep myself from crying. My baby kept eating, sobbing between swallows.

And it was exactly at that moment that something happened that I never expected and that left that cruel woman in complete shock  Continued in the first comment 

Four young men approached me. They had been watching everything that happened. They didn’t say anything — they just stood next to me. Then they turned their backs to me, formed a circle around us, and one of them took my bag.

— You can feed your baby calmly, — one of them said. — We’ll stand here.

— Yes, — another added. — We won’t look. A child shouldn’t go hungry because of rude people.

I couldn’t say anything right away. I just stood there, feeling my chin tremble.

The woman fell silent. She looked at us, at those men, at me — and for the first time there was no arrogance in her eyes, only confusion. She realized that her shouting was not a “defense of morality,” but simple cruelty.

My baby calmed down. And for the first time during all of this, I felt not shame, but support.