To not move in cafe

[InspMorse]

Cafe has only 6 other people in it, loads of free tables (Just counted 11 free tables) for 2/4 people.

I am on my own sitting at the only 'sofa table' drinking tea & MNetting. I am sitting on a 2 seat sofa & have a table and another 2 seat sofa facing me.

Family with children (around 6/7) have just come in and the mother declared loudly (loud enough for me to here) how selfish it is to hog a table for 4 when a person is on their own. She is now sitting with her family at one of the free tables but keeps looking over

They want me to move! AIBU to stay on the comfy sofa (for another 2 hours) and ignore the death stares?

Make a big show of stretching out and relaxing on the couch. When she gives you the death stares just laugh at her.

THIS

Not sure why there's an extra out in my sentence

I agree with her. You are essentially taking up 4 seats as not many people would ask to share.

I also would not take the nicest seat for 4 - the sofas and table - if I was on my own.

Why? Since when was it a rule that single customers aren't allowed comfortable seats?

OP, you're going to need a friend to help you guard the space if you have to get a refill. Where are you? I could just fancy some coffee and cake

Rainbow, no-one needs to ask to share. There's plenty of room for everyone in the café. Try reading the OP's post properly.

Ceto

I think Rainbow means that if the café were full or there were only 1/2 seater tables left and a group came in, people are less likely to ask to share so OP would effectively be taking up more seats than she needs.

That's how I read it anyway!

I did ask OP if this were the case would she move to allow a larger party to sit down but she didn't answer.

Ceto I can read perfectly well thank you.

I vote for remain on the sofa.

OP hasn't suggested she would stay put if the café were full, so the issue of people being forced to ask to share doesn't arise.

I might have considered moving if there were no other free tables but as you mentioned, there are several. However the other woman is being ridiculous. If she was that upset, she could simply have asked to share your table/sofa rather than looking at you in a passive aggressive manner.
Oh I do love a sofa table though. Stay where you are OP and keep us updated.

I always think that areas with two sofas are essentially 2 x 2 seater spaces, and as long as the OP wouldn't mind another person or couple taking the sofa opposite her then she is definitely not being unreasonable.

It's one of the hazards of taking the sofa space when you're alone!

Oh good, I'm glad IWNBU because I was there for ages eating/drinking everything on the menu eating cake, drinking numerous drinks & I think I may have had a panini too... I was waiting for DD and her friend's to come out of the cinema & was so comfy!
There were plenty of tables free throughout my epic stay so I put nobody out. Other than stroppy woman.
An older lady on her own came to sit opposite me on the other sofa for a while & we had a chat (hence no MNetting until now I'm home). It was lovely!
Stroppy woman looked up and glared each time I got up (they were there for ages eating lunch too) but I stayed put.

andinto - Just seen your post! No I didn't mind the older lady taking the other sofa! She sunk into it we a 'oh this is nice' !!! She was lovely!

Rubarb - Obviously if the cafe had been full when I entered the sofa would be taken already I would have sat at a normal table for 2 if available.
I wouldn't swop another 4 seat table for the 4 seat sofa table though, no.

BTW, sorry about all the typos & shocking grammar on my posts... AUTOCORRECT - honestly!!

Also... just thought, if I had sat on a 2 seat table, lovely older lady on her own wouldn't have come to sit with me! She wouldn't have chatted to me either.

My local Starbucks got rid of their sofa. It's near a busy station and I don't think they want to encourage lingering.

I also have a theory about the air conditioning. They have it on colder and breezier than is needed, presumably to avoid customers getting cosy.

I did the same a few months back. I had an hour to kill before meeting friends so instead of going home I went to the Starbucks we were meeting at. Practically empty so I sank into the lovely comfy armchairs (4 around a table) and got comfy with a book/coffee/cake waiting for my friends.

Same situation a couple of women with kids came in and wanted my seat but instead of asking just started making snide loud comments. Which I ignored.

But later on I saw my friends arriving through the window, pointed to our seats and to the loo to show where I was going. Left my coat, book and a few bags (nothing valuable in them) and went to the loo. My friends then caught and told off said snide woman as she jumped up and started moving my stuff to a poxy corner table by the door as soon as the bathroom door shut. God I wish I'd seen her face as my friends are not shy in speaking their minds lol. She left just as I was coming out the bathroom

Going off her logic you should have got your coffee to take away, had you sat on another table then you would have been the selfish lady hogging a boring old table for 2 or 4

I agree that the rule is generally that it is in fact 2 x 2 seater sofas so people sitting in the sofa opposite is to be expected even if there are other tables, so the OP is in fact only occupying a 2 seater space.

You could've been waiting for someone else. She doesn't know that. These people do infuriate me. A while ago, my husband and I were in a pub, sitting at a large, padded window seat when a woman came in with her husband, who sat near us on the same padded seating area. Sneering at both of us she exclaimed loudly, "Are you all right, darling? Is your back okay? Do you need more room - don't worry about them (meaning hubby and I) they can move. No way.

Glad you ignored this woman, if the cafe was crowded then perhaps it would have been a bot naughty, but you are not being unreasonable at all. She was being rude.