AIBU that when you are alone in a busy cafe...

[warmandwooly]

And paying for your coffee etc that people who are just coming in shouldn't hot the only available tables while their DH etc go and collect their order.
FFS they can see it's busy. They can see people at the que making their order AIBU to suggest they maybe have some thought for others?

I don't know Chipping. Again, if you have kids, there are dispensations. It is not always clear cut.

There is plenty of standing room on the Tube. If there's not, you can wait 2 minutes for the next Tube. Beyond that, a suitcase does not go on a train seat. A bag, a backpack, sure. Not a suitcase. And definitely not a suitcase at rush hour.

BTW I am not pregnant and I have shared tables with others.
I have actually been places that have asked you to buy your food before sitting down.
I think ideally before anyone sits down they should look at the que and ask themselves maybe where the people in the que are going to sit. If there is not enough room for them and you aren't prepared to share a table then you should leave.
Priority for seats and tables should go to those already in the que and not people walking in there and then. Its not fair to excpect people who are in the que placing orders etc not to have somewhere to sit etc.

And what woolly says is true, you go in, spare tables. Fine. By the time you get your drink..no tables..

A whole family with children, buggies, bags and stuff must all stand in the queue together?

Maybe they should stand in a holding pen awaiting the crucial moment when they can gallop out and run to a table.

If whole familes are daft enough to queue how would you decide if it was "ok" to sit down though?

I really don't see what the issue is, if your alone chances are there will be a seat somwehere

Its one of these situations when if you are on your own you feel it is unreasonable, and when you are with a crowd of family/friends you know it is know it is not!

Also when it's busy a single person can join others tables, I quite like doing this.

I don't

Funnily enough I don't mind someone asking me if they can join me. I had a lovely conversation with a lady just before christmas. She was telling me all about her family

If you are that fussy about having to share a table or others 'queue jumping', perhaps you should find somewhere a bit quieter to go for a coffee?

And I don't entirely mean that as harshly as it sounds - sometimes I'm not in the mood for farting about trying to find somewhere to sit whilst juggling a tray or whatever. If I see a place looks busy I just walk a few hundred yards and go somewhere that isn't.

ChippingInNeedsCoffee

You would be disappointed then.

My reply would be "It's not yours, you were not sitting there and I don't recognise a coat's claim to a chair".

I think ideally before anyone sits down they should look at the que and ask themselves maybe where the people in the que are going to sit. If there is not enough room for them and you aren't prepared to share a table then you should leave.

But what if the people in the queue are getting food for those already seated? I don't think this is something you can police, nor should you. Eating in a cafe should be a relaxing experience, not this stern exercise in counting queue members and empty seats before deciding whether to enter.

BTW OP, it's spelt queue, not que.

I don't think of it as 'hogging' a table. I think that's how it works in counter-service cafes. And I agree with those who say that if it's busy, you could just try to find somewhere less busy ? that's what I do when I'm alone.

Or sit with a stranger weirdly close. They'll be hugely uncomfortable and probably finish up and leave in record time, and then you'll have the table to yourself.

I thought about giving you a but what I'd really like for cafe threads is a flapjack emoticon.

I've just remembered - I don't go to cafes when I am alone.

I go to cafes on my own almost every day.
This should be like my specialist subject.

When you are waiting in a queue and people come in and sit down and one goes and stands in the queue then I think it is totally and utterly not on to leave some without a table or seat.
And no I don't expect people to all stand in the queue at all because at the end of the day if there aren't enough seats and tables to go around for you and the people already in the queue then you need to make the judgement call of whether mpore tables will be made available or go somewhere else. Just becuase there are a few of you doesn't mean that you can just plonk yourself down as others who are being served.

It is times like this I wish I lived in Switzerland. I am pretty sure no-one would even think to hog a table there.

So you dont expect everyone to wait in the queue but they can't sit down either - what do you want them to do? Wander around aimlessly? Stand outside until they are given permission to sit?

Many cafes (including M&S now) tell you that you can't sit down and hog a table before you've paid.

Go to another cafe where there are more seats, Sirzy?

I mean, what do you expect a person who has bought a coffee and a sandwich to do once they realise there are no seats? Wander around aimlessly with coffee and sandwich? Stand at the till and eat?

Everyone is a bastard.

HTH.

Delete the internet.

If someone is alone I very much there are no seats available. If they dont want to share a table thats their problem.

So to those who say I should find somewhere else should I just pay for my order see tables and chairs being hogged and think nevermind I will just leave it and go somewhere else?

There's only one of you... just go and sit with them at one of their illegally booked tables. If they say anything just say, 'No, it's my table really, I booked it with the aid of my third eye and its unholy fire, while I was paying.'

You'll probably get the table all to yourself then.

You could, OP, or you could possibly look in the window and make a decision before going in.