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.

I agree with Fluffy. There’s SO much noise now in cafes, restaurants and public spaces in general. I hate this habit people have now of not using headphones when listening to music or watching videos.

Anyway! I would love quiet zones in cafes, definitely. I bought some nearly noise canceling ear buds a while ago that go a long way to blocking out children on the subway and video players but I’ve lost one of the ear pieces. I need to buy some replacements!

I like my noisy local cafe - I sit and pretend to do the crossword while listening to all the gossip around me which I then spend the rest of the day passing on to anyone who will listen.

There’s one man I can’t bear though - he is really loud and constantly swears and wears really invasive aftershave. He’s awful but the rest I quite enjoy.

There's a 'quiet' corner in cafe near me. The only music they play is quiet birdsong and it's really lovely. It only seems to attract people who want a bit of solitude for some reason, I only ever go there when I'm on own. It's lovely.

There is a lovely quiet café in a library near me, and a relatively quiet one in a museum. (The art gallery, on the other hand, is NOT quiet AT ALL!!).

Another café local to the office is bustling upstairs, but very few people seem to realise it has a basement seating area and that is usually peaceful.

Of course, one could go to one of the local 5 hotels, as their lounge is an oasis of calm, but the prices!!!!! (The other 5s locally are bustling and lively so not in the same category at all).

I reckon if someone could invent a way to allow you to temporarily switch off your hearing (like super powerful noise cancelling earphones but without having to play white noise or music) they would clean up.

I do wonder if the increase in background noise, to the extent that many people never really experience any quiet at all, is one of the things leading to poorer mental health and in particular greater anxiety.

the librarians talk full volume to each other about cock all constantly.

Did anyone else's brain omit the "all" when they read this. I was like "wow- the librarians I know all seem pretty straight laced"

Hyphen error. Yes, there no actual cock talk involved.

The quiet carriages on trains never seem to be that quiet. I've taken to glaring at people.

soul My brain did the same. I was too.

soulrunner me too!

I was imagining how the locals (largely retired middle England types) in my library would react to hearing loud conversations about cock!

I wish Morrisons would extend their quiet time to all day and get rid of their appalling music which would reduce the amount of people yelling to be heard. I might even go there for coffee.

I have left cafes because of noise and unruly children screaming and jumping on the seats while the mothers ignored them, teenage girls showing off by having shouted conversations while the amused very young male staff had no choice but to listen, music blasting out so loud you couldn't make an order without sign language, people yelling into phones.

Next time I want peace , quiet and a coffee I will sneak into my local
Library and listen very carefully to the staffs conversations.