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?

This has already been covered upthread. However, I'd also give an exception for someone with a baby buggy.

If someone is on their own and has been waiting patiently in the queue (having first checked that there are seemingly plenty free tables) it's infuriating if groups come in and take up the last remaining tables just as the single person has been served.

Well apparantlly this is the AI take

In bustling cafes, the etiquette of table-grabbing can be as varied as the coffee blends on offer. Let’s explore the perspectives:

The Swift Strategist: The student who swiftly claimed a seat while their friend queued up might be hailed as a savvy tactician. After all, securing a table ensures a cozy spot for sipping coffee and chatting with company. 🤔

The Queue Purist: On the other hand, some might raise an eyebrow at this maneuver. They’d argue that it’s akin to queue-jumping, a breach of the unspoken social contract. Waiting patiently in line, they’d say, is the honorable path. 😇

The Café Chaos Theory: Cafés themselves contribute to the confusion. Some establishments encourage patrons to grab a table before ordering, while others insist on the reverse. And then there are those where chaos reigns supreme, and any system is fair game. ☕

The Devil’s Advocate: “An order’s an order,” says the contrarian. Whether it’s whispered at the bar or shouted from the mountaintops, does it truly matter how the order materialized? Perhaps not. 🤷‍♂️

The Practical Approach: Picture this: One person secures a table while another stands in line. It’s like a synchronized dance—one-two, table-order, cha-cha-cha. Less congestion, more efficiency. 🕺💃

The Foodie Duo: Imagine two friends meeting for a meal. One queues diligently, the other scouts for a vacant table. When the food arrives, they reunite, plates in hand, ready to feast together. 🍽️

So, dear café-goer, next time you’re torn between queueing and table-grabbing, remember: there’s no universal rule. Just follow your coffee-scented instincts and enjoy your brew. ☕👏

So everyone else has to queue? Even if you're a group of 4 or 6 or a couple with several kids but no buggy? How big are some of these cafes to accommodate such excessive queues.

If a single person wants a table they chuck their coat or bag on it like people have been doing for eons.

I live in London. I've therefore learnt that if you see a table free, you grab it. If there is a 20 minute queue with no guarantee of a table, you go elsewhere.

OP I do see your logic and in an ideal world it is not really fair, but it's also not particularly rude of them to grab the table either. (And it's never going to be an ideal world, so you have to work on the premise that others won't know the 'rules'. If you get worked up it will just be exhausting for you.....)

I absolutely get a table first before I order. I would much rather that then have us all causing mayhem in the queue, ordering food and hot drinks then standing with nowhere to eat.

eh? i always sit my kids down before ordering. no way am i ordering 4 drinks and the. being left with no table

I never join the queue unless im sure I can sit somewhere. You are being ridiculous

I literally did this today. Busy ice cream shop, I grabbed a table with the kids while DH queued to order. Totally normal and the same thing nearly everyone else was doing- especially as the alternative was manoeuvring a pushchair, a scooter, a child and a bucket of rocks through the small space of the shop.

Sense of martyrdom dressed as being polite and ‘not selfish’

Anyone watch Curb your enthusiasm? Larry David did a whole episode about this, it's called the chat-and-cut.

Was it busy so people who didn't do that might not get a seat?

No one else was doing this in this cafe.

Was there a massive wait for people to get served?

No one else was doing this in this cafe.

Of course they were. There's absolutely no way everyone else was stood in the queue.

This one always sorts the wheat from the chaff. I could ask people this question to decide if we’d get along or not. Others include ‘do you put your trolley back or just leave it?’ And ‘would you chuck rubbish out the window even if nobody’s looking?’

Ill mannered folk bagsy their tables first.
Polite folk queue up then find a table.

Table grabbers, trolley dumpers and rubbish chuckers are all of the same selfish ilk.

And before people pipe up that they can’t possibly queue and stand for 5 minutes due to xyz reasons, no I don’t mean you obviously….

Huh? It's just common sense, surely. We always do that, one person goes to order, another sits down to wait, 'reserving' a table. You mean to say, there are people who BOTH go to order and THEN look for a table? Just why would you do that? How odd. No, I'd rather stick with my system.

Table grabbers, trolley dumpers and rubbish chuckers are all of the same selfish ilk.

Yeah everyone who is sensible and finds a table also throws rubbish on the ground and dumps their trolley... Honestly this is possibly the most bonkers comment on the whole thread and that's saying something. 😅

How long do people think it's ok to reserve a table for in a busy cafe?

10 minutes
20 minutes

2 people get to cafe.
See there's a massive queue and a wait.

"I know, you go and grab a seat, I'll wait here for 20 minutes until I get served"

I think I can see why table service is a much better idea.

For as long as it takes for them, or another member of their group, to queue and recieve their order.

Which completely mucks up the whole table system and ties up tables.

You were silly not to send your DS to get a seat if it was that busy

Not if everyone finds a table before ordering. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Can't see it happening all that often to be honest. I don't think I've ever seen a cafe so busy you'd have to wait 20 minutes just to place an order.

Maybe save your angst for those who take up tables all day and use it for work whilst only buying the odd coffee.

It's not like you're reserving a table waiting for your friend, you're waiting for a drink in the cafe. Completely different

Yes it was a long wait, there were a few free tables but none in the sun. Doesn’t matter so much with ice cream as you can eat it anywhere but I’m not going to go and order food with kids in tow without knowing we’ll actually have somewhere to sit afterwards. It seems like you’ve decided this is the polite thing to do and are really mad that people refuse to massively inconvenience themselves to serve a standard of pointless courtesy that exists mostly in your mind?

It wouldn't occur to me to 1. Queue 20 mins in a cafe with no guarantee of a table 2. Not divide and conquer if I was with someone else.

Why on earth would you order in a cafe if there was nowhere to sit? The students were just using common sense and honestly I thought this was normal behaviour because the alternative makes ordering kind of pointless?