Breastfeeding Mom Told to Cover Up By Bus Driver: ‘That Wasn’t Any of His Concern’

A breastfeeding mom says she feels “disrespected” after a bus driver told her to cover up while she nursed on a San Antonio city bus.

Payton Garza was traveling home from a doctors appointment on a VIA city bus with her husband and two kids, when her youngest, son Christopher, 16 months, made signs that he was hungry.

“I hadn’t even been sitting down for very long and he was pulling down my shirt a little bit, and I was like, okay, you’re hungry because I haven’t fed you,” the mom, 23, told KENS5.

Soon after Garza started nursing, the driver stopped and walked back to her, leaning in closely.

“He said to be considerate of those around me, and if I didn’t have a small little towel or blanket, if I could just cover up,” Garza explained. “And I was just like, ‘Oh. Okay. Thank you.’ And I was just nodding my head so he could go back up to the front.”

Garza was taken aback, as none of the riders had complained, and she was fairly covered. Texas law allows women to breastfeed in public or private.

“The only part that was out at all was the areola,” she said.

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Still, Garza decided to stop nursing and give Christopher a juice box instead. When she got off the bus, the driver approached her again, telling her to bring a cover next time.

“And all I said was ‘thank you’ and I walked out the back door,” she says. “I felt disrespected, because I don’t see why I was approached, when thousands of other moms do this publicly anywhere.”

PEOPLE has reached out to VIA for comment.

Garza said she reported the incident to VIA, and wants the driver to apologize.

“That was very disrespectful of you to come up to a nursing mother, and tell me to either cover up or just stop,” she said. “That wasn’t any of his concern. I’m feeding my child. More of the way I saw it is if you don’t like it, just look away. You don’t have to see what I’m doing.”