Re:Sitting on spare seats at an occupied table in a cafe

[Bahhhhhumbug]

Just asking your thoughts really. DD and I were in a small licensed cafe in a local town during the day recently. It is a bit of a 'lovey' type place with lots of showbiz people etc. without outing where I live. The café is quite cramped with lots of little tables seating no more than four people each and that's at a push really.
It is very popular and DD and I got the last available table (the least popular right in front of the door , so draughty) We then observed several couples standing in the doorway yeah thanks for that looking around to establish there were no empty tables and one older couple on being told by the waiter very apologetically that there were no tables and he didn't know how long and would they like to sit at a table outside (fairly decent day) and have a coffee or something till one became available.
But no they decided to stand there in the doorway and gawp round the room assessing how far on everyone was with their meal/drink, including pointing when someone made any sort of move to go to the toilet or whatever. They seemed to be discussing a lady sat in a corner at a table alone reading a paper whilst having her drink /food and the fact she was sat on her own with 'three empty seats' but then decided against it and left.
They came back again five minutes or so later and did the same causing a draught routine again and were again politely told there were still no tables but insisted on waiting again in the doorway. After a few minutes they went over to the lady in the corner and I heard the man say 'Can we sit here , or are you one of these people funny about sharing a table?' They said this as they were pulling the chairs out obviously going for it whatever her response. I think she was too gobsmacked to say anything tbh but didn't seem happy and left soon after.
My DD and I were both a bit and said we would never intrude on someones quiet time in this way unless it was a long table meant for more than one group and even then would sit at far end. Obviously the water/proprietor didn't want them too as he repeatedly told them 'sorry no tables'. So what do you all think ? We felt it was quiet intrusive and that many people go into a café to have a quiet chill on their own or a private conversation with a friend/family member , not to socialise with strangers (they had proceeded to make small talk with her btw , resulting in her closing her book.)

The waiter told the couple that the table was occupied and they would have to wait for one to be freed up. Therefore the lone diner was not limiting the potential covers as it wasn't her decision. Or perhaps you are, as I thought, implying that lone diner are a drain on resources? And they should suck it up if someone tries to intimidate them?

I simply don't think that couple would have intimidated a man in the same way.
And it wasn't a standard four seater tables - in any case it seems those were the only type of table in the place.

Still waiting for Satan's explanation of how someone who respects people's right to a table on their own and wouldn't barge in has a touch of the 'bargy patron'. Very odd argument

I wouldn't use this thread to gauge what is normal in a cafe PBC.

Neither would I . According to some, unless it's a michelin starred restaurant with bouncers at the door, you can feel free to ignore all requests by waiters to wait until a table is free and barge past. Some people really have no manners or class.

The OP states what they said when they joined her table. I think the way they expressed themselves was designed to intimidate.

In any case if the waiter had already told them the place was full they shouldn't have been allowed to commandeer a table like that.

I mean when they joined the lady's table, not the OP's table.

Given that my argument is supported by the vast majority on here Satan and that you consistently evade some of the salient points made in posts, I would suggest that it is you who cannot sustain your argument - or are perhaps not used to going to cafes where patrons respect each other's space and polite requests by waiters to wait until a table is free.

OPs last post on this thread was over 2 hours ago.

Yes, have you? By individual poster I mean, not one person posting the same point over and over.

It's a cafe. If I wanted privacy and a table to myself I'd have booked somewhere or gone somewhere posher.

Indeed

Do we know the OP's cafe wasn't posh? It's licensed and has showbiz types and is waiter service, sounds quite posh to me.

Not where i live

Or maybe you should go somewhere commoner, Satan.

Where is the defining line on "posh", I wonder?
If it is a "Please Wait to be Seated" café, then to me, than is pretty posh. How much posher could/should it be, to prevent a barging-in situation?

I get out lots thanks Satans

In this situation the couple sound rude and inappropriate.

But I have on occasion asked if I could share a table. This did depend on the cafe, size of the table etc and I always asked politely and without expectation.