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

[thespian.livejournal.com]

I don't just consider that rude, I consider that the sort of thing that should lead to the staff politely asking the person in question to leave over, as they're *not* a customer. This is a lot of why we'll be charging (nominally) for the internet use at the place where I work; in order to have access you'll need to have brought yourself to the attention of the staff.

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

That's when an angry uncaffeinated mob needed to descend upon the table and.... well, we won't go there, but you get the idea.

[nomirena.livejournal.com]

That is extremely rude. (It reminds me of a Frasier I just watched last week.)
Cafes aren't libraries. I worked in a cafe in NYC in which the manager used to regularly have to remind customers of that and ask them to order something beyond one cup of coffee if they were going to take up a table for 2-3 hours.

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

It's definitely bad etiquette to tie up a table without ordering anything, but I think my sense of "long period of time" differs from yours. I think it's okay to tie up a table for an hour if you've ordered something in places where it's otherwise pretty standard to be somewhat leisurely.

I agree that when a place is obviously quite busy and people are unable to find a table because most tables are in use by those who haven't consumed food or beverage at the establishment for a really long time it's bad etiquette to just keep sitting there for hours tying up a table.

[tastyanagram.livejournal.com]

I completely agree, which is the reason why I've only gone to True Grounds twice even though I live a whole three blocks away. This is also why I don't frequent Diesel very often. The entire place is full of booths taken up by one person and one laptop. It's ridiculous.

[fanw.livejournal.com]

I agree this was very rude! I think True Grounds attracts a lot of such folks because they offer free wireless, and I myself have brought my laptop on occasion, though never at peak hours.

Just a suggestion to throw out there. When everything is full, I do not hesitate to ask to share a table. If they really are studying, they certainly won't mind someone on the other side of that screen reading the newspaper quietly.

[ravenword.livejournal.com]

I agree that it is rude, especially cutting in the line! It wouldn't have been out of line for you to either politely ask the person if they wouldn't mind you sitting down at their table so you could eat the food you ordered, or for you to point out this kind of behavior to the staff. If they're losing paying customers over it and enough people complain, they may create a policy to deal with these people. My friends usually approach the booth-hogging laptop users at Diesel and ask if they don't mind sharing. If you're sitting quietly and reading the paper or something while you have your food/drink, they have no reason to say no.

I don't think it's wrong to bring a book or a laptop to the cafe if you're going to also be ordering food and drinks there (I often do this on my lunch hour at several cafes near where I work), but it is a little ridiculous how people will camp out for hours in a place that's packed to capacity.

[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

[jenskot.livejournal.com]

I don't mind if people take 3 hrs to sip one cup of coffee, but it's definitely tacky to just take a table without ordering anything at all (and, like, isn't it illegal? It should be...). And if I am mooching a table with my books, I have no problem moving over for someone who actually has to juggle a hot coffee and muffin.
My personal pet peeve about indy coffeehouses is actually the snotty staff and the incredibly abrasive music they often play. There's a time and a place for Gwar, and Tuesday morning when I'm studying ethics is not it. Really, if you're such a hipster, surely you can find a happy medium between deathmetal and canned Starbux jazz?

[soong.livejournal.com]

I expect my beverage + snack purchase at such an establishment to buy me some time to make it my preferred study place. And every hour or two I'll go back and put coins in the meter and buy another drink. There may be some freeloaders and some who have overstayed there welcome and I don't know what the solution to them is but if there's space for me I'd very much like to settle in with my laptop for a caffeine fueled coding binge for a few hours.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if you go to a place of business, buy something. It's really that simple.

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

Yassir will buy this place soon, so it won't be a problem. 15 minutes to drink your coffee and get out.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

Whoops! Accidental coffee spill!

[veek.livejournal.com]

Man, some commenters here are just vicious.

I'm one of the folk who will sometimes come in, settle in for a long while (2-4 hours) and buy something every hour (or a little more frequently). I happen to work almost exclusively using a computer, which results in mad cabin fever. So no, I can't always sit at home -- and don't have an office. TG is an excellent place to work.

The suggestion of little signs saying "hey, yes, I'm sharing this table! come on over!" is an excellent one, for Diesel and TG both.

Fifteen minutes to drink my coffee and get out is not reasonable for a coffeehouse, laptop or no.