thinking people should monopolise tables in self service restaurants when they haven't got any food

[workshy]

been out to Chester zoo today and had a fantastic time however we went to eat in one of the self service cafes, had to queue up for food for 15 minutes and then when we went to find a table there were none.

There were however lots of tables with one or 2 people sat on them with no food -when I asked if we could share there table we we told that the seats were taken by people who were still queuing for food and it would have taken us 10 minutes max to eat a bowl of pasta each

we were eventually shouted over by a very nice man who told us that they would be finished in a minute and he gave us his table

now I'm guilty of doing this in the past but now see the error of my ways -no issue with people sitting down to feed a baby while they wait for their partner, or people who are infirm sitting down to wait but these were people that just could be arsed

so AIBU to think that people shouldn't nick tables until they are actually ready to use them?

YABU

When DH are out with the kids there are 6 of us, surely you don't expect 6 people to stand in line to order, when only one of us needs to actually speak to place the order.

Not only that, my DS had ASD and finds queing beyond difficult. Trust me, it's far better for us and the other poor people in the queue if he is taken to a table to wait!

I think you mean shouldn't monopolise tables :)

Anyway, I come down firmly on the "get a table while other people in your party queue" side of the fence, so I think YABU

Generally you'll find there is a fairly even split on the cafe-waiting-etiquette question.

you are right trills & emsiero I should have read it before posting

doh

Yep, afraid I also baggsy a table for me and DD while DP queues up, but I'd have no issue with anyone sharing it.

Love Chester Zoo, great day out.

first come first served. i am def in the "you get a table i'll get the food" brigade so yabu. the queueing of 15 mins was a clue you could have sent the others to get a table. just makes sense.

shakirasma

how does 1 person carry trays of food for 6 people?

single parent -who was I supposed to send to wait at a table exactly?

Yabu

You should have sent your kids, if old enough to be aware of 'stranger danger'. My mum did & she was a single parent.

The problem with not doing it, is that everyone else does.

Work shy

If it's for food and not just drinks then I of course get one of the kids to assist me, but the other 4 can still wait at a table.

Yabu I'm not queuing with 3 children, paying a fortune for food that I might not be able to sit at a table to eat.

I also like the children to sit instead of stand around with hot food and drink being carried about on plastic trays.

I don't mind budging up to share the table though.

seshat you are right

and as I've said I used to do it but it's only today when I've been on the other side of it that I realised how shitty it actually is when you have paid a fortune for a meal that you then can't sit at a table to eat

we had finished our meal and were leaving before one of the tables we had asked at had their food

There is no way I'd queue for food with kids without knowing for absolute certain we had a table. No way.

People who hang their cardis on the back of chairs to choose their food will get a hard stare from me (not that they noticed) - seeing as we'd picked and paid before them (two yakking women oblivious to anyone else) When there are two of you that need to choose you choose where to sit afterwards. Got that?!

Lots of choosing going on there, but you get my drift, (hopefully.)

Yabu. One or two people queue - the rest find a table. It's the law.

Yabu. Making everyone queue up is daft and a recipe for an accident. Much better for a couple of people to queue while everyone else waits for a table to be free and then sits and waits.

If someone is alone then there is no reason they can't sit at a table with someone else.

I usually get the table after I've bought the food. Fortunately a reasonable number of people do that too, so I've never had any problems getting somewhere to sit. What's the point of grabbing a table when you've got a long wait in the queue. Might as well let someone have it who's ahead of you, and then by the time they've finished and you've got your food, you get somewhere to sit too. It's a win win situation!

I don't mind families bagging a table if there's lots of them, we all do that. Just don't hang your cardis in a territorial fashion & leave the table empty in a full cafe.

noqontrol
finally someone who talks sense!

i am not queing up with 5 kids to get food, i find somewhere to sit, park the pushchair or put dd in a highchair and leave my eldest three boys to sit with her, then take my ds4 with me, tho sometimes i leave him at the table as well if i can see them clearly whilst waiting in the line to get food. its far far easier to do that then take all the kids up with me!

So it makes more sense to all wait around with food going cold as there are no table free than it does for a couple of people to queue while the rest wait? Don't see the logic of that approach!