Intrigued by my reaction to this behaviour

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I was in Wetherspoons. I know, but this one is in a nice old building, has a good outdoor space and is generally frequented, during the day, by retired couples. I went for breakfast, it being one of the few reasonably priced places locally where you can get a healty breakfast. Porridge, fruit and yogurt for me, plus refillable hot drinks.

An elderly man came in, picked up an abandoned cup from another table, empties the rains of the pre ious cup onto the carpet and went to used the refil machine.

He wasn't loud or smelly and I should have felt sympathy for him, but I was revolted. Really disturbed, especially by seeing the puddle of cold coffee on the carpet and the way no one, staff or customer (including me) gave him any care or attention.

My dad would do stuff like that in the early stages of dementia.

What, in an ideal world, do you think the staff and customers should have done? The customers have just gone in there for a peaceful breakfast, the same as you, so arguing with an elderly man over a cup of coffee that he might not be able to afford, or he might think was his, or he might just have been an entitled arsehole about, probably wasn’t on their ‘to do’ list.

The staff; well he’s not really causing any great harm or disturbing anyone. The fact that he’s doing it in the first place suggests that he’s either desperate for a hot drink, he’s struggling with his health or he’s not going to react reasonably. A refillable coffee isn’t going to dent their profits and who wants to be on the front pages of the local paper for manhandling an elderly man out the door over a few pence? Nobody in that place gets paid enough for that. Al the time he’s sitting quietly and not bothering anyone, I expect they’re happy to ignore him. If they even saw him in the first place.

It’s not great that there was a puddle of cold coffee on the floor, but it’ll soak in and I’m sure there’ll have been worse spilt on a Saturday night. It’s Spoons. It’s not an entirely unexpected event (as your ‘I know, but…’ would suggest you’re aware of).

I think the days of people intervening are largely over because it often turns out to cause more problems than it solves. People don’t react the same way anymore.