coffeehouse consideration

[modlin.livejournal.com]

So. I like to work or study in coffeehouses as much as the next person. I also like to walk over to True Grounds on weekend mornings for coffee and a bagel or breakfast burrito. And I like to sit at a table while eating my bagel or breakfast burrito. True Grounds isn't a very big place, and to all of you who bring your laptops and textbooks and sit there for long periods of time: have some consideration, please! It might be that 10:00 on Sunday morning isn't the best time to tie up a table for an hour. As for the woman who walked in the door, bypassed all the people standing in line, grabbed the table that had just opened up, opened up her laptop, and hadn't ordered anything 20 minutes later... am I the only one who considers this bad coffeehouse etiquette, even without the not ordering anything part?

Comments

[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's rude. But it's the coffeehouse's responsibility to have some rules and enforce them. Most people (not all, and I suspect not the person in question) will comply with signs that say "tables for customer use only", "during busy times, please leave your table within 20 minutes of finishing your meal", "form line here for next available table".

The only place I ever saw that solved this problem without signage was the late lamented Last Exit on Brooklyn (http://seattle.wikia.com/wiki/Last_Exit_on_Brooklyn) ("Seattle's Oldest Coffeehouse, Est. 1967"). The small rectangular* tables around the perimeter of the room would often be filled by one or two people studying or playing chess, but the huge round tables were almost never completely full, and were big enough that even painfully shy people like me felt comfortable sitting with strangers.

* Slightly trapezoidal, actully

[modlin.livejournal.com]

The Last Exit! I used to go there, way back in the day! And yes, I agree... if only the folks at True Grounds seemed to care.