To be mad at Starbucks hosting a musical baby morning

[imnotreally]

My local Starbucks is located on the junction of an A road, just outside of town. People go there to work or to take business meetings. It also happens to be near the towns crematorium so a lot of mourners stop there for a coffee. I go because it’s a grown up coffee, away from the kids, I can have peace and quiet and think or work.

This morning I got there and half the seating was reserved. It turned out that a large portion of the seating area was being turned into a mother and baby/toddler group. Ok, fair enough but not really what you expect from a place where professionals meet. Then came the music. Loud kids music which involved clapping and singing along.

Am I being unreasonable to think they picked a totally inappropriate place and Starbucks are crazy to have arranged it?!

'Noisy toddlers are everyone's nightmare. Who wants to be in the same room as them. Except when you have to be

Noisy (or otherwise) toddlers are a fact of life. If you have an issue with them (and I often do), its you who needs to avoid them, it isn't them that needs to avoid you. Coffee shops are for anyone, including toddlers. If you don't like it, don't go to the coffee shop.

Oooh! 'dear'! Well that certainly put me in my place. I feel suitably belittled and chastised.

I was simply giving you an alternative picture, it's useful to see things differently from time to time. Good for the brain, expat.

The people saying 'it's not good business sense' must be deluded. These 'groups' will potentially run weekly. That's 10+ adults and children, probably all adults buying at least one coffee plus buying drinks and biscuits /cakes for their kids...all for the sake of 30 minutes-1 hour of their business day. Or 1-2 adults sat doing work/having a meeting for several hours nursing one coffee and hogging tables with their laptops. I know which one makes more business sense to me. And if you 'choose' to hold a meeting in a PUBLIC coffee shop then don't be offended when members of the public are actually there. I'm sick of going to coffee shops where there are no tables because there is ONE person sat at each table, working on their laptop while talking loudly on their mobile phone. It's not an office people!

Professional, such an interesting word that is so over used. I was always under the impression that a professional set their own fee and qualified were on salaries, with workers earning a wage

Genius I thought these places were convivial seating

it smacks of unprofessionalism having a business meeting in public

For some industries it's quite the norm!

Noisy (or otherwise) toddlers are a fact of life. If you have an issue with them (and I often do), its you who needs to avoid them, it isn't them that needs to avoid you. Coffee shops are for anyone, including toddlers. If you don't like it, don't go to the coffee shop.

Which is fine, if you're going somewhere like McDonald's but the fact is there is NO WHERE that is child free these days. No where.
Why should adults have to stay in to avoid squealing toddlers.
Parents with small the children have the right to go out. But equally adults (parents and non parents) are entitled to a few places with no children to have a bit of peace and quiet.

Even pubs these days (which used to be child free) are full of kids these days.

I agree toddlers and young children are a fact of life, but that is different from hosting a sing along baby group in a coffee shop.

I don't like the way some parents act all 'my child is being noisy and just being a child. Don't like it then go somewhere else'. People shouldn't have to plan their decisions because the default acceptable behavipur in public is loud parenting, loud children, public sing songs etc. It's as annoying as people having loud phone calls, teems playing music out of phones, people having loyd conversations etc.
Just it's fine to bitch and whine about teenagees or tell adults choosing to have quiet business meetings they should go somewhere else whereas a group of mums and their silly sing songs is obviously not annoying in the slightest and everyonr else should put up and shut up.

Excessive noise above quiet chatter with somone on your table is not appropriate in a coffee shop however old you are.

Which is fine, if you're going somewhere like McDonald's but the fact is there is NO WHERE that is child free these days. No where. Why should adults have to stay in to avoid squealing toddlers

Of course there are. Plenty of child free places. You're just not trying.

Imnotreally - I saw the classes advertised on Facebook. It's not far from me, but thought it'd be an expensive morning with coffee as well. I also didn't fancy the other customers watching me sing silly songs with my baby!

There are plenty of child free places round here. Most bars are child free for example, and as someone who frequents bars throughout the day as part of my job, I can say that I rarely see a noisy toddler running around. There are also adult only coffee shops, corporate hotel lounges, spas to name a few.

There will always be selfish parents who let their child run around and cause chaos, but there will always be ignorant arseholes who don't think children should ever be allowed to go anywhere where they may be. Children are a part of life, literally. You can't get away from them completely because without children the human race would end. That child you're bitching about and wishing away will one day be someone you will have to show respect to. I really don't understand how people can hate people who are at a different stage of life than themselves.

No, it's a nice thing, if you don't like it complain or go somewhere else.
Even weirder m local Costa hosts a slimming club, yep, slimming lol

There are some bizarre attitudes on this thread.

Firstly, in many industries working from a coffee shop and/or conducting an informal meeting there are perfectly normal. Those frothing about it being unprofessional need to educate themselves in the ways of the modern world.

Secondly, I think the outrage about toddlers in coffee shops is really sad. My local Cafe Nero was a lifesaver for me when on Mat leave. With so many libraries closing and church hall groups declining, there aren't that many places to get out and about with a small child/baby. What are mums supposed to do all day? Climb the four walls of their house? Isolation is a key contributer to PND.

Anyone who can stump up the price of a coffee has a right to be in Starbucks. As to whose needs should trump the other, that's up to Starbucks to decide. I wouldn't be surprised to find that the mums spend more, therefore makes sense they'd be prioritised.

Yes, ladybunny. We've been fortunate enough to find adult coffee shops and cafe bars. The coffee shops we use for informal meetings really aren't frequented by children or families (as I said earlier, low level lighting, stone floors etc aren't very child friendly) , and you'll see them rarely. Though you will have to pay a bit more than you would at a Starbucks!

And we have premises, but as others will know, it's often beneficial to meet on neutral ground or in an informal setting, or a 'more' formal setting in the case of hotel lounges etc

laurie
Maybe I missed it but other than a few posters, it seemed most people who agree with the OP have an issue with organsied groups of mums and toddlers meeting, being loud and having sing song time to music, not the existence of children out and about.

If a group of businessmen came in and started doinh a PowerPoint or playing promotional videos loudly so tje whole place can hear, we'd be equally irritated because it's a large group being inconsoderate and making it a pain for others.

What an odd thread. You don't have a right not to encounter events and people not to your liking in Starbucks. It's a business. They don't owe you shit.

Yabvu, as would a parent from this group be if they complained that Starbucks had decided to pull the group and go adult only. If you don't like it, vote with your feet.

Very funny the people who think meeting at Starbucks is 'unprofessional'.
Not everyone wants to constantly meet in the office or always host a dinner or a lunch. For a quick meeting, a coffee is perfectly fine.

Saying that, Starbucks are clearly entitled to run a baby group should they so wish. Perhaps it would be beneficial to put advance notice of it, say a poster in the window or at the counter, a couple of weeks beforehand.

Not everyone wants to constantly meet in the office or always host a dinner or a lunch. For a quick meeting, a coffee is perfectly fine.

Of course coffee is fine, few disputed that, but one of the coffee chains like Starbucks, Costa, even MacDonalds, as was mentioned up thread etc? It would have to be very informal to use somewhere like that.

Those of us agreeing with the OP that It's annoying to find a coffee chain hosting an organised toddler group are objecting to the singing and clapping, not the mere presence of toddlers. My own toddler was obviously lovely at that stage, but I had a career so I didn't have to endure toddler groups!

I would love to know which jobs those berating us professionals as being unprofessional actually do themselves.

No, some people are objecting to the presence of any children at all, in any coffee shops.

Cantu that's been done to death on many a past thread. Organised music sessions in coffee shops takes the debate to a whole new level!

Haven't RTFT but in my experience mums' groups are in the 'buy one coffee and make it last three hours' camp, plus they bring snacks for their kids with them rather than buying any. Starbucks may not find them as profitable as it had hoped.

so? I'm talking about this thread.