Would you move tables at a Cafe?

No, moved my bag so they could sit down next to me if they so insist.

Woman was an asshole, but isn't there a library close to you OP?

Don't let a small interaction have a greater impact on your day

You are right, I will go elsewhere. I don’t want the atmosphere of an office, and if the owners want that it’s up to them.

LOL, you really think 'moving your bag' would have made people leave? I would have just shoved your bag out of the way if you did this to me.

She is not being 'unreasonable' when she's taking up the space of FOUR people for several hours!

OP, you were entitled to occupy one seat within the booth so you didn't have to move. if it was me, and this crazy family insisted on sitting right next to me when other seats were available, I would have just moved my bag and hoped they didn't stay long. I wouldn't have changed seats though - first some, first served - unless in exceptional circumstances such as to accommodate someone with a disability or service dog.

As a family we might only look like 3 people. What you cannot see is that our son is severely autistic and can be disruptive, so we find it easier to "trap" him in a booth between a parent and the wall/end. We'd have asked you to move. But we'd have been polite and explained that we need the booth for our son's safety.

It's a public coffee shop and not your private office. If you need to focus you were in the wrong place. The tables are for consuming your food and drink and then you leave.

But it was the only table free when she came in. Are you saying that she should not have sat anywhere because she was on her own? Was she supposed to move mid drink if a 2 person table came up? But then she would be taking up a table 2 people should sit at?

You were selfish but the other woman sounds like a loon. Who gets that nasty over something so trivial?

We certainly aren't as gregarious with strangers as other countries, that's correct. I wouldn't say we are a cold and unfriendly bunch, but I can see why a visitor from e.g. Spain or Greece could get that impression.

I can't even get started on what I think of anti-homelessness benches (google "hostile architecture" if you really want to be horrified) and the councils who would rather spend money on those things than addressing homelessness :(

I’m really glad you didn’t give up your seat to such a vile person.

She was completely unreasonable calling you a bitch, who does that??

Sounds like she might have been having a bad day but really, really awful behaviour. Sorry it shook you up. I think it would most people. No-one expects that kind of thing from a trip to a cafe.

Totally agree with you. I would never ask if I could share a booth with one person in it (even though I might privately fume about them taking up four seats!). What rude people.

What a disgusting way to speak to somebody. Who does she think she is?

I would have been tempted to pretend to video her. Or call a manager. I swear people were not as rude and abusive 10 years ago.

Forget her. Shitty types like her don’t deserve any headspace. If it wasn’t full and there were spare seats available, then you weren’t being remotely unreasonable. It’s a chain coffee shop so first come, first served.

She was being a bully trying to get you to move when you were clearly settled and downright nasty when she left, so I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d replied ‘fuck you and all who sail in you” to her when she left.

If someone tries to hassle me when I’m minding my own business, I tend to say slightly odd things to them. It stops them in their tracks usually as they’re not expecting that. I can often have a bit of fun winding them up with my nonsense drivel. 😂

Good luck with your exams! 🤞

Exactly.

And people are overlooking the fact that the booths/tables have features besides how many arses they might (not must) accommodate.

Location, lighting, acoustics, tabletop size, availability of socket or WiFi all are characteristics that suit different needs. It isn't necessary to fill the max number of seats to be legitimately using a particular table.

If it were a mother with a baby in a sling instead of a laptop, using the socket to charge her phone, I bet no one would complain. Or a couple looking at a map or paperwork.

But as usual, a solo woman is expected to inconvenience herself for the convenience of others.

It's tiresome beyond words.

Yes you can. The poster said they were in the middle of the bench with her bag on one side so there must have been space on the other side, so move her bag and move up and the two adults or a child who is feeling unwell/overwhelmed can sit down.

Can't you see a difference between somebody working quietly on their laptop and somebody in a public space in lingerie or less?

(Although people going to public spaces to take loud phone or zoom calls are the worst! I find one side of a conversation MUCH harder to filter out of my awareness than two or more people chatting.)

Oh. The UK sounds quite a cold and unfriendly place. Rich people building in preventatives for people who have to sleep rough, to have to sleep on the dirt instead of a bench. Needing to be distant and separate and “private” from their other countrymen even in places designed for them all to mix and share.

Only read the first page. I can't believe the responses. There were other seats, so you had every right to keeping your booth.

And those that say the business is losing money from the empty seats, it's Cafe Nero, not an independent, they can absorb it. And no one cares if you want to work/study for hours. These cafes are very happy to take the money off people who work in the cafe or else they wouldn't provide WiFi or charging points. I say this as someone who used to work for a big chain coffee shop.