Cafes should have quiet zones like train carriages.

[beebreath]

(Light hearted ! )

Just want a quiet coffee to get away from the noise of everyday life. But I am faced with people shouting orders to their friends at the counter , squeals of children , chat about trips to doctors and dodgy hips. Why can't there be cafes where no noise is allowed a bit like ' quiet carriages ' on trains.

That would be nice. I would go to a quiet café.

If libraries had cafes I'd go. You have to be quiet in a library 😁

Would you have to ban all the noisy drinkers and eaters?

"If libraries had cafes I'd go. You have to be quiet in a library"

Lord I wish even that were true. I'm afraid that for both cafes and libraries I never leave without my industrial earmuffs. I look like a fool, but the silence is golden
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earmuffs#/media/File:Ear_muff_white_bg.jpg

Same here ,i don't get why they all play music ..I want peace and quiet ,not someone else's choice of music ,on so loud I can't think....coffee#1 and costa I'm talking about you.

Oooh that's a thought. Difficult to say as I can't hear the noisy eating and drinking above the inane chatter that is on going.

Like the ear muffs idea.👍

Yes! I went to cafe rouge yesterday for a quiet coffee. Screeching adults and children, music and a child riding round on a balance bike

here's a thought - take your coffee (home made, cafe takeaway etc) to a library !

Some modern libraries have cafes - Winchester and Brighton, as two examples off the top of my head. Though those modern libraries are also the type where you don’t have to be so quiet, so I guess that wouldn’t totally help...

I’m afraid the days of silence being enforced in libraries are long gone!

Went last weekend for a couple of hours’ peace away from baby and toddler to prep for an interview. I swear it was noisier than my bloody house! Kids running around screaming, parents shouting, phones ringing .. I’m all for libraries welcoming kids but it was impossible to concentrate! I felt like a right curmudgeon inwardly tutting about the olden days ...

The making of coffee (grinding of beans, steaming milk) is quite a noisy business so I don't think imposing a vow of silence would do much other than 1) make those noises seem louder 2) put 80% of people off coming in.

Oh how fabulous would that be?! Peace and quiet with your coffee, absolute bliss!

I often go to the (very popular) cafe in my local park. Inside is usually bedlam with buggys and babies and dogs everywhere, and the acoustics mean it is really, really noisy. I almost always eat/drink outside to avoid the madness. During the winter this has worked really well as it has been far too cold for most people to want to sit outside. The outdoor seating overlooks a lake (with lots of wildlife) and is just blissful when it's quiet. Unfortunately now it's getting warmer, lots of people are choosing to sit outside so my quiet cafe zone is gone. I end up keeping my headphones on to try to block out other people's conversations but I think I'm getting past that tolerance point and starting to buy a coffee to go instead (and then hunt for a quiet bench in the park). It means I miss out on the lovely cafe breakfast but it's a choice of bedlam & breakfast or coffee & calm.

I think we're doomed and the only way forward is industrial ear defenders. None of the fluffy bunny stuff.

If you want peace and quiet, why go to a (public) café?

People go to cafes to meet other people - god forbid they might actually want to talk to each other.

Theres a cafe near me that has a silent book club.
Its 1 hour where its complatly silent except for staff ect. And you just sit there scoff cake and read your book

One guys phone rang and he answered and started chatting and the waitress all but nailed him to cross and flogged him

I think you missed the light hearted aspect of this

That was for @Tinkerbellisnotafairy

@PristineCondition would love to know where that is. !

Agree. Simone beauvoir wrote every in a cafe. Smoked her fags and tootled3out a masterpiece. I'm not talking about the hipster places where the next block buster is being penned on a laptop either. Unbothered.
Bit cafes now are simply places to pause before staggering on to the next pile up in the day.
Not the refuge they once were

My local library is bedlam. There is no attempt at hush whatsoever and the librarians talk full volume to each other about cock all constantly.
I have industrial ear defenders, still not silent enough for me.

I feel your pain
Trying to get some peace and quiet these days.
We are drowning in noise.

A walk along the beach prom is punctuated by peoples conversations on their phones. There was one on the bus yesterday. Ear buds in his ears, yelling into his phone.

We are in an apartment, 5 floors above a bar which is quiet most of the day..and it gets to bedtime about 11 pm and you think goody...nice and quiet...then it starts, shouting, raucous laughter, loud singing
Because they have a licence till 2 am 😡

There’s a hotel opposite, it’s a relatively quiet area.. ( we are abroad) yet a handful of people get to spoil it for everyone.
I’m not a killjoy. Midnight is fine by me. It was a cold night last night but no they were out in force still

Just have to suck it up and use earplugs

If only earplugs got rid of selfish wankers.

I have a brain injury. I can't cope with music, multiple types of noise at the same time etc. I can't meet friends for coffee as I can't find a quiet cafe. I've been to an M&S that had 2 cafes, one was a quiet one - bliss. It may be lighthearted for many but it's not for me. I'm already quite isolated and this doesn't help.

@fluffypudcats I'm really sorry to hear that.

There seems to be no escape from noise.