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?

Op you did it in the 'wrong order'- thats telling you eh !

Did those restaurants work well York? Thing is, if people queue, then get the table it actually works really well in my opinion. And I would think it would work better for the restaurants profits as well as the table and queuing time is being run more efficiently. I'm surprised more of them don't put rules in place.

If I can't ensure that there is a table available after I have bought food (with enough seats), there is no point in buying the food. Before my children were old enough to wait at the table, I just left the buggy and coats at the table. I am not bagging a table so that I can go shopping, I am leaving it to spend 5 minutes purchasing the food I will eat at that table.

Back in the day when I went to coffee shops by myself, I would either dump my stuff at a table, or sit at one of the bar stools at the high up table designed for shared use.

I am happy to queue for a table (and abandon the queue if the wait gets too long), but I am not happy to spend £20 on food for the family and then spend 15 minutes or more hanging around with a tray. I'd rather not eat.

Maybe people's opinions on this differ depending on what kind of self service establishment they tend to visit. I haven't been to a McDonalds in almost a decade, and would bring a picnic to a Zoo. If I eat out, it tends to be at a cafe with a limited number of tables.

Buying food regardless and hovering with a tray is just odd.

Seemed to work fine but it was not particularly busy.

If you find a table, sit down. If there's no table available I'm fucked if I'm going to walk round with a tray full of overpriced crap, risking having it all end up on the floor, just to improve queueing and sitting efficiency.

Sorry.

Seemed to work fine but it was not particularly busy.

It was probably not particularly busy because families (or "herds of more than two) looked at the sign and said sod that and dined elsewhere.

^^ see sensible comments upthread about how if you have purchased overpriced food you want to know you have a seat, not wander about on the off chance with a tray of aforementioned overpriced food.

All I can say is that M&S is always busy in Bath and it caused exactly this problem. Now it superb. You queue at the door, you can even have the menu to decide. One of the staff comes asks how many and shows you to the table. He/she now knows not to give it to someone else. One person from the party , or you if you are alone-queues at the desk-gives your order (same food as any other M&S cafe)you pay and go and sit down and staff bring it to you. It is fair, simple and hassle free-you don't get 3 yr olds cluttering the queue or people getting aggressive or people vainly looking for a table with a tray of food.
I have since been to M&S elsewhere and they are as normal with silly notices telling you not to get a seat first.
These threads are a waste of time-nothing has persuaded me to queue without a table and I have never known this age of etiquette when common sense wasn't applied. (and I am older than the 42 yrs mentioned)

yabu
so ok to feed a baby, but only then!!!

YANBU, I can never believe the gall of people who sit there waiting for their food to come while others wander round hopelessly with heavy trays of hot food going cold! I never let my kids do this unless there are obviously lots and lots of free tables and they're better not taking up space in a queue. It's really selfish.

My children are able to wait quietly and politely in a queue.

Hence I don't bagsy tables. I think it's rude.

However it depends on the scenario, McDonalds, full of horrid people, definitely bag table so you can clean off the WC cooties with antibac gel.

M&S cafe, this should not be necessary although old folk seem to have the god given right to park their spouses in there and wander off to do their shopping (without furnishing said spouse with any drink or refreshments and only when they've done their weekly shop do they queue up).

Any child related environment including soft play and zoos I think you have to face the fact that stressed parents are going to take any opportunity to make it easier for themselves (and sitting down with a couple of kids while one poor sap queues DOES make it easier) and act accordingly (i.e either bag a table or just face the fact that it happens and not get upset).

I tend to be quite loud in the situation where there is no space and go back to the counter and ask for a table to be found. Someone always manages it.

Of course OP I would probably rather have visited the penguin enclosure and eaten there than in a zoo cafe.

Exotic- sounds like a perfect solution in that m and s.
I can't see why Anyone could argue against a perfectly logical and fair solution ! ( though this is MN so..... )

Some people are still saying they think it's odd that people would purchase food and then wander about looking for a table: they are obviously missing the entire point of this thread. There may well be free tables when you enter, only to find that by the time you've purchased your food, the table baggers have nipped in and taken them. Obviously if there are no free tables when you enter, people will turn round and go elsewhere!

It's also worth remembering that the world doesn't revolve around families with toddlers who can't wait in a queue for a few minutes. Many families using these sorts of places have children of 5 or so upwards, who are perfectly capable and want to choose their own meal. Just as adults do. Often you want to actually get to the counter and see what's available/ what the cakes look like etc. A system of everyone getting table first and then food is ideal. And if some families turn round and go elsewhere because precious Tarquin can't wait a few minutes for a free table then fine, no skin off anyone else's nose.

But they wouldn't be left wandering around if they used their common sense and found a table first. I think some people are objecting to this practice because they think it takes longer to queue than eat food.

If this is the case I don't have any argument with you because I would never pay to sit in a restaurant where you spend more time queuing than eating so we will never cross paths/ trays.

But if everyone bagsied, that's not fair to people who are alone, surely? In pubs, yes, they usually say you must find a table and table number, because they are going to bring your food. But with self service, you should get your food and then a table. And I have to say its very rarely large families or people with an obvious reason to need the table and not be in the queue, it is just one half of a couple complacently sitting waiting and ignoring families who need to sit down.

What has this got to do with families with toddlers? It doesn't matter what the set up of the group is. You don't order food until you know you have somewhere to eat it. What's the issue seriously? You seem unable to explain what's wrong with a sit down then order approach

Nothing is wrong with that if that if what the venue specifies you should do. If it isnt, you shouldn't.

But the people who are waiting for their food won't be waiting long - a couple of minutes usually in a place where it's self-service. Not long enough for someone to eat, anyway, so it doesn't solve the problem that there just aren't enough tables.

tinkerbel

Nobody has said their precious child cannot wait- including me. If my children have to wait, they do, and very nicely, thank you.

The point you seem to be deliberately ignoring (and which I have made several times) is that many families don't want to clog up the queues with their entire family. There is no need for a whole family to go up to the counter. Why take your children with you when they would be happier and out of people's way at a table and occupied.

It's nothing to do with being precious or having precious children or Tarquins or anything else that you have decided is the point here.

It's to do with keeping an excess of people out of the queues unnecessarily. If I am paying and carrying the tray, I don't need three people with me (i.e my DH and kids) who are not paying and carrying the tray.

The queuing for a table system in M and S seems very fair and sensible actually.

There are a lot of people on this thread who also agree that it's OK for one to queue and one to sit. Seems to be a time-honoured way of doing things and Mumsnet is the first time I have ever heard of having to get your food before getting a table.

Loads of families will do the same- park kids and DP whilst one goes up for the food. Commons sense.

Ok: let me explain one more time....
There is nothing wrong with a table first approach, provided its a system used by all. In fact, its probably a better approach than food first.

The problem lies with some people getting food first and other people bagging tables. You can't possibly know when you queue up, how many people might decide to come in after you and bag a table- well, unless you're psychic.

The comment about toddlers is because some people seem to explain getting a table first by having toddlers who can't wait in a dangerous queue. Therefore I was pointing out that many families have children who want to choose their own meal rather than be told to find a table and have their meal picked for them, or have someone else make a decision on their behalf if the meal they want has run out etc . And of course single customers can't bag a seat.

Therefore far more sensible all round for the restaurant to adopt an agree approach to be followed by all. It really doesn't need to be more complicated than that .

Yeah, the place should just specify. Easier all round. When I was a teenager, our McDonald's had signs saying please buy your food before taking a table, and I think I've probably derived my view of people who don't do that from an impressionable age! . I still stand by the point that anyone who is a nice person, if they have bagsied a table in a self service place, and see someone with a tray of food and there are no other seats, would get up and let them sit down. I would, and I'd tell my children to.

Why do they need to specify? Why can't people take a common sense approach? Seriously can't see any issue here or a need for people to be micro managed into how to get a table in a cafe!

Well because you're going to get some people thinking its right and proper to bags, and some people who may be alone and yet still want a coffee, who can't bags!

If your alone you say "mind if I sit there" at a table with spare seats. Hardly a massive issue!

If there is no sign up, people can pretty much decide their own strategy. If a sign said food before tables and it looked crowded, I wouldn't eat there.

Toddlers CAN wait in a dangerous situation . SHOULD they wait and wriggle and possibly run off when hot drinks and trays are being carried? What if they run off or wander away when you have a tray of hot drinks and can't do anything about it? (obviously I am not referring to your perfectly behaved children here Tink, I am sure they would do nothing of the sort).As a a general rule of thumb, toddlers are not remote control robots and have been known (shock, horror) not to do exactly what their parents want.

By the way, explaining things lots of times won't always get people to agree with you.

Once more, it's not about children being able to wait, it's more the question of why should I take three people with me when I am the only one buying?

Sirzy- simply because for some people common sense means bag a table, while for others common sense means check there are free tables on entry, queue up for food and assume people who haven't yet entered aren't going to barge ahead and bag a table. And some people cant bag a table even if they want to as they are alone. Hence the problem that the op describes. You obviously think common sense means your way of thinking- but clearly there is more than one way of thinking about this!

And a few clear signs from the restaurant hardly amounts to micro management lol ! It simply solves the problem.

Though I'm beginning to wonder whether some posters wouldn't actually want a fair and clear solution Because they don't enjoy their 'eating out experience' as much without being able to grab a table ahead of everyone else .....

But how do you know if they're 'spare'? People often bagsy for others who haven't arrived yet, and say 'there's someone sitting there'. Although facts would suggest to the contrary.

Having bought your food and drink gives you more of a stake and more right to sit down than not being arsed to stand in a queue and not wanting to risk having to wait, IMO.