Busy queue in a cafe. About 20 minutes to get to the front. Student comes in, grabs a seat and gives his order to his friend in the queue

[cakeorwine]

Should the cafe staff have said anything?

It's really rude to do that - DS could easily have done the same thing whilst we were in the queue but it was busy and it would have been pushing in.

Is it just entitlement? Selfishness?

Or smart thinking and sod everyone else?

Not to be an arse. I wouldn’t ever do that normally. But I did say to my mum after she was just diagnosed with cancer, go and get a table I’ll get coffee etc and I care that she was sitting down before the queue in front of me had found a table and it was busy. But normally, no I would always wait until I’d paid and had my order to look for a table.

This is mad. Some people are so uptight at the min

Why on earth would I make that up - you can call bullshit all you like I’ve literally replied on a thread about issues at cafes with seating with a situation I saw recently

You grab a table, I'll stand in the queue. Perfectly normal way of operating. Otherwise where are the rest if the group waiting, in the queue? Hovering in the middle of the shop? Outside the door? It doesn't really work any other way. If the shop was that busy there are literally no tables and no hope of a table I'd go elsewhere , somewhere less busy.

nope, not an ounce. If they were a single person on their own I'd be happy for them to perch at the side of my table until somewhere else came free.

If there were 2 or more people I'd think 'You muppets, why did you order food if you weren't sure there'd be a table?' You wouldn't do that in a restaurant or pub that serves food, why is a cafe any different. You deserve to stand around looking gormless.

In your scenario, say there were 50 people who wanted to order food, most of them in groups of 4-6. You honestly think it makes more sense for 50 people to be in a long snakey line all over the cafe, pushchairs, multiple bags, small children and all, then one by order and pay separately, then try and dodge all the other people standing crowding around the counter while balancing hot food and drinks, than for 8 people to queue and order (1 for each group) while the others sit down?

In cafes around here you grab a table before going up to order… it makes sense so you know you have somewhere to sit before ordering

But if a cafe's busy you look in an see if there are any free tables. If not, generally people go elsewhere. It would be a right pain to see empty tables, queue, and then find a whole lot of people were selfishly queueing and then taking tables that had appeared free.

Fortunately I've never seen that happen in real life, so it's easy to see, before joining the queue, if there are any free tables. People alone tend to leave something at the table before joining the queue, so everyone knows where they are.

This is completely normal. If I'm on my own and not sure I'll get a table I'll go somewhere else.

Snooze you lose

Why ask for opinions when you clearly don’t want them?

And why is the fact they’re students relevant?

you seem incredibly annoyed about something that didn't actually have any negative impact upon you at all then.

How on earth do you cope when something actually bad happens?

(you say selfish, most people say common sense!)

Sorry you’re making me laugh now.

You’re taking this so seriously and getting so worked up by it.

I don't think I'd have waited that long in the queue tbh but if I had my dc (or dh or a friend) with me I'd do the same - send them to the table and order everyone's. What's the point in everyone queuing up? Plus, you snooze, you lose. 🤷‍♀️

I put my coat or bag emptied of valuables on a chair if I am on my own then go up to order. But if I waited ten minutes in a queue I'd leave and find somewhere else, never mind twenty minutes. What will the wait for food be like if the service at the counter is that slow! But Iget a set first whether you collect and pay for your food at the counter or order and wait.

And to answer a question by the OP, I wouldn't think, "fuck them" if I saw people with no table but a tray or food, I'd wonder why on earth they ordered without securing somewhere to sit.

This is normal where I go. It's just how it works, but yes it is annoying, especially if you're alone and can't grab a table - but sometimes I chuck my coat on a chair to save the table and that works fine!

Why on earth would I queue BEFORE securing a table that I can subsequently eat my food at once I have it? If there was no table to eat at you would be left standing holding food and drinks with no where to eat and drink at? If there was no available table I would not be ordering in the first place! As you said OP, LUCKILY someone was leaving and you got a table, but what if they wasn’t? You would have been left there with no where to eat the food you’ve just paid for. A table might not become free for a while, and you’d have cold food. That’s why you make sure you have a table to eat at before you order food. If there are no free tables I wouldn’t be ordering and would go elsewhere!

I'm semi-retired. Widowed after being a carer for many years. (Hence being on my own most of the time.)

I only queue if I see empty tables. Nevertheless, I've sometimes been caught out. As for queuing for 20 minutes? Yes, I'll do that on a non-working day, particularly if it's going to save me walking a long way to somewhere else.

I honestly do not understand why anyone would stand in a queue and get food without a table. If you get to the end and have received your food but there are no tables do you just loiter around waiting for someone to finish. That's more rude in my opinion. Most people I know just send one person up to order whilst the others get the table.

This is when it's excusable, in my view. If you're with someone elderly or disabled then get them seated first. Otherwise, it's just being selfish.

And if I am on my own and order food but there are no empty tables when I come to sit down, that's when I ask people if they're using all the chairs at their table, especially if they are not eating.

I also grab a table first as I want to know where I'm taking my stuff too ...

I don’t really understand why multiple people would wait in the queue together when one (or everyone else! can sit down at the table and only one person orders. I don’t logically understand how it makes sense for 2/3/4 (however many people) to all go up to the queue together if they’re all sitting at the same table.

I wouldn’t even consider this to be selfish. Surely it’s just smart thinking?

See, this is my thinking too.

Why would you order food knowing that you don’t have a place to sit? I’m trying to understand it but I really can’t

tbh I probably just wouldn't even bother going to a cafe where there weren't lots of available seats (let alone one with a 20 minute queue!). I would/do go somewhere where there are more seats than people queuing, or where you can order from your phone. Or I'd just get it to takeout and sit on a bench somewhere.

But if there literally wasn't any other cafe in the whole vicinity and for some reason I needed to sit down that badly, I'd put my coat on a seat, or ask someone sitting down to keep it for me, or in absolutely desperate circumstances once I'd been served I'd just ask someone who had a spare seat on their table if I could sit there until someone else moved. Or I would ask someone working there to ask people who had finished to leave, given I assume the staff wouldn't want loads of people standing round the counter with trays moaning there was nowhere to sit either, as it would be a big health and safety issue.

Basically I'd do whatever I would also have to do if it was an equally busy cafe and nobody in the queue had reserved a seat, but there still weren't any spare tables!

tbh if it's just 1 person it's more likely a seat will become free than a group of six all hanging around waiting.

But it's all hypothetical because I've never had this be an issue for me, and nor have I ever seen it be an issue for anyone else in any cafe I've ever visited - and, it turns out, neither has the OP, who got a seat as soon as she had ordered despite all her whinging.

Why is it selfish in any other situation? So if you're with a couple of kids and a buggy or 3 able bodied adults in you're opinion you should all stand in the queue?