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AIBU?

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Original poster

To ban phones and other technology from my coffee shop?

166 replies

WingsOnMyBoots · 01/02/2018 17:35

I actually don't HAVE a coffee shop or any other business but I just wondered - hypothetically speaking, if it was a great place, with fabulous coffee and cakes etc. would you still go if NO technology at all was allowed to be used in there?

OP posts:
Exiguous · 01/02/2018 19:53

No, but there's a large Amish community north of here who make that concept work.

Of course you'd have to provide somewhere for the customers to tie up their horses where they won't get run over, and shovel the shit after they leave.

They also don't have any electricity in their coffee shop, so it's a bit dark and the lattes aren't very good and the juice is warm.

But the cakes really are delicious.

BoffinMum · 01/02/2018 19:54

No, I wouldn't go even though I don't even always take my electronics out with me. I hate people telling me what to do.

Hoppinggreen · 01/02/2018 19:55

I wouldn’t come in.
I’m not glued to my phone but that’s my choice

tabbywabby · 01/02/2018 19:56

No. I need coffee shops to provide coffee, chairs, tables, cakes, sandwiches etc, not to impose their values on me. It's a business, not someone's personal kingdom. You take money, you behave like a professional business person.

elQuintoConyo · 01/02/2018 19:57

Could i smoke a joint?

fleshmarketclose · 01/02/2018 19:58

No because if I'm sitting in a cafe alone I usually listen to an audiobook or read my kindle. I wouldn't go in and sit staring into space. If I go in with dd's they invariably check their phones whilst chatting so they wouldn't want to go in either.

NotACleverName · 01/02/2018 20:01

Good god I am so sick of this hand-wringing about technology. People have been finding ways to ignore each other for centuries, mobile phones are not the devil.

I don't want to talk to strangers in a cafe. I don't want to talk to strangers on the bus. I wouldn't patronise any cafe that had twee signs like "no wifi, talk to one another."

CauliflowerBalti · 01/02/2018 20:02

The Elephant Cafe in Edinburgh (which is otherwise wonderful) has one of those snarky 'we don't have wifi, try having a chat' signs. It's pretty much next to one imploring you to follow their social feeds and share your experience.

hazeyjane · 01/02/2018 20:03

elQuintoConyo

Could i smoke a joint?

You could smoke a crack pipe, as long as you weren't looking at your phone.

EmpressOfJurisfiction · 01/02/2018 20:11

I'd go to a cafe with a "silent technology only" rule. But if I'm having coffee on my own, I want my phone unless you have a decent bookshelf.

caoraich · 01/02/2018 20:15

Nope

Newspaper apps have changed my life - as a short-armed short-arse I am no longer limited to either tabloids or the elaborate broadsheet folding exercise if I want to read the news, which is of course an idea accompaniment to a quiet coffee.

Pubs, on the other hand...

elQuintoConyo · 01/02/2018 20:15

I did go to a cafe last week to meet a friend, arrived early and did a sudoku on the back of the freebie newspaper. So if i had sudokus at hand i'd do one. If i want to read my book i'd stay at home in my pants.

I certainly wouldn't strike up a conversation with a random, i'm British don't you know!

Sashkin · 01/02/2018 20:17

I wouldn’t go in, and your sign wouldn’t work on me if I did.

I have never yet been so bored that I’ve had to resort to talking to random strangers for amusement. Out of politeness yes, boredom no.

I’ve worked in some very dead jobs (selling ice-creams on Brighton Pier in February in the rain) so I’ve had plenty of practice killing time on my own with no props or diversions. I’d count the floor tiles before I’d chat to the person next to me. So you might as well let me get on with my kindle in peace.

HoppyHannah · 01/02/2018 20:22

I don't care about people browsing, posting, etc. on wifi it is life today. It is generally a quiet activity.

But I really wish there was some blocking mechanism to stop SHOUTERS on their phones for ages. Is there a solution to this apart from a mandatory gag with your Latte.

youngestisapsycho · 01/02/2018 20:26

I would. I often take a magazine or newspaper if I’m on my own and going for a coffee.... for people that say they need to be contactable.... what happened in the days of no mobiles?

Exiguous · 01/02/2018 20:26

Yes that's the problem. As an American, I would talk to people. You'd all hate me.

Much safer to let me have my wifi.

Elementtree · 01/02/2018 20:40

If I had a book in my bag I might but I wouldn't head for it over other coffee shops.

Given the shite that passes for coffee in Starbucks, I think you can assume that most people are just looking for a warm, comfortable place to sit down for a while and relax. They're not going to get that if you are going to be so prescriptive about how they do that.

cardibach · 01/02/2018 20:43

youngest in the days of no mobiles everything was planned differently. I didn’t have one until I was over 30, but I like to be contactable now.

JaceLancs · 01/02/2018 20:47

Coffee shop would not get my business
I buy coffee 4-5 times a week, often to peacefully catch up on work emails
If I’m on my own I might read kindle books or online papers or magazines
Other times I’m with someone and tech is ignored

Rufustherenegadereindeer1 · 01/02/2018 20:49

I don't usually sit glued to my phone (cant think of another way of wording that)

But i do need to be able to respond to a text or call from one of my children

So no

JAMMFYesPlease · 01/02/2018 20:52

Probably not. I'd go to a pub without Wi-Fi or where tech was a no no but a pub is more sociable in nature. I usually go to coffee shops alone and use that time to catch up on life. Granted I barely ever go to coffee shops now though. Its a waste of money when I can make my own at home!

speakout · 01/02/2018 20:52

Why do you ask such a strange question OP?

Halie · 01/02/2018 20:56

No, I wouldn't go in. I have really bad anxiety which includes social anxiety - looking at my phone is the only thing that distracts me from it and stops me from just walking straight out as soon as I've ordered a drink. I don't read newspapers because they make my anxiety worse, seeing all of the bad things that happen in the world. I could take a book but I have a short attention span and can't read unless it's silent so that probably wouldn't help.
I might sound like a headcase but believe me there are a lot of people about with SA and you may even know some of them who hide it well with coping strategies like mine - playing with a phone.

loobyloo1234 · 01/02/2018 20:58

Yes. I went to the o2 last week and we weren't allowed our phones for a 3 hour performance. Had to put them in a lock up security pouch. It was bliss

DakotaWest · 01/02/2018 21:02

what happened in the days of no mobiles?

I wouldn't have gone to a coffee shop but would have been stuck in the office.

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