To think if you are in a busy pub/cafe, once you've finished your drink, you leave?

[angelos02]

I was in a pub last night with DH, got our drinks and looked for a table. I spotted a couple of women at a table with empty glasses so assumed they'd either be about to leave or get another drink but they did neither. Half an hour later, we were still stood (along with lots of other people unable to get a seat). Their glasses had been cleared by this point. If there had been plenty of seats I wouldn't have even noticed. I wouldn't have the brass neck to do this myself. AIBU?

usually getting a drink in a pub or cafe is a small part of the experience otherwise you would get one at home, you are in there to meet up chat to people, take a breather from whatever,,,and your buying the drink for the drink but to also sit in there...so you are bu..

Or buy one drink and drink it really really slowly. or dont even drink it ...

So its fine for someone to sit for half an hour without a drink while next to them people with drinks have to stand?

Yes.

Well I couldn't just sit having finished my drink while someone stood holding a drink. Must just be me.

If it was you already at the table you would have said it was yours all night. I know I would!

So you're being a hypocrite and a fool and yes BU

I'm being a fool for having manners. OK

I wouldn't go to a pub that chivvied people out the moment they'd finished their drink, it would be uncomfortable and miserable. Who'd want that?

Obviously there's a bit of a limit, as in don't go to a very popular pub at 6pm and sit there until closing time without a drink, and it can be a bit different if it's a pub that's more about food, as obviously people can't eat unless they've got a table, but generally in a drinking pub, being a bit more leisurely is surely normal?

I don't think they should be chivvied out as soon as they finish their drink. Just don't sit there for half an hour!

Yes, I think in a pub it is fine, especially if it's a pub pub not a food pub where people have gone to eat.

It would complicate things if you were waiting for a table so you could eat, or perhaps if you had young children with you, as it's easier to manage with children if you can sit them down out of the way.

But I can't see the great hardship in two adults having to stand up and hold a drink if the place was full.

YABU.

YANBU

So what length of time is acceptable? I really don't see half an hour as very long, is there any reason you're unable to stand?

They were probably doing it to wind you up since you were obviously hovering

Why not sit there for half an hour? They got there first. Unless the pub has a "no sitting down without a drink/food" rule, they have just as much right to be there as you do!

Cafe is different to a pub imo.

If i saw someone finishing drinks off in a cafe I'd wouldn't expect them to hang round for much longer than 20 minutes after finishing. In a pub I'd have no expectations, they might get another drink, be waiting for friends etc. so I'd never hover waiting for a table.

YABU

I don't think they should be chivvied out as soon as they finish their drink. Just don't sit there for half an hour

So yes, you do think they should be chivvied out.

Go to another pub or drink standing up - easy peasy!

Wow, what tolerant people there are on MN . It would piss me off too OP. Half an hour of table hogging with an empty glass seems a bit excessive.

YABVU
And deluded. Why do you think it had anything to do with manners. It's nobody else's business how fast someone drinks.
The poster who works in a pub listed many types if customers.

If it's busy and you want to sit down then you should go to a quieter place it have come out earlier, if getting a table is that important to you.

Those two ladies have every right to sit at that table as long as they like.
And no. It has nothing to do with manners.
You sound very 'entitled'.

I sit or stand. I drink like a fish , so none if this applies to me!!!!!

And no. I don't think a cafe is different either.
Where is the law that says how long you can stay?
The proprietor can ask if they are having anything else. Which is a subtle way of asking them to buy more or leave.

But that's the proprietors prerogative. Because they are the ones making money/losing customers.

I don't mind how long it takes someone to drink but if you have been sat there for so long that your glasses have been cleared and you have no intention of getting another drink, leave.

I'm surprised that the owners of pubs/cafes allow this to happen. They are obviously losing money if people are sitting at tables without consuming anything.

It's better for you to stand. Have you considered jogging?

Also, think about it logically, they are sitting at a table. It is their table, it actually makes no difference to your desire for a table whether they have full glasses or not.

Yabu. They can sit for as long as they like. If you have a problem with standing go elsewhere with more tables. It's nothing to do with manners, it's just the way that pubs work.

I don't disagree Oblomov that people in a cafe are equally entitled to stay after finishing. Just more that it is unusual to do so.

If I went to a cafe and there were no tables I might stay and wait to see if one became available, in a pub if there were no tables and I really wanted to sit down I'd go to another pub without ordering a drink.