AIBU To think this is selfish?

[Geneva1995]

When you’re waiting to order your coffee in coffee shop eg costa coffee and the queues huge and a couple come in and one of them goes to find an empty table to reverse and put their bag on while they queue for the next 25 minutes?
And people with a tray of hot drinks are stood there waiting for an empty table. I’m currently waiting and can count 4 tables which have been reserved by a coat, hand bag or person!!!

I might just be grouchy as I’m desperate for my coffee

Yes it is selfish. Move one of the reserving coats and sit there - you have prority as you have been served first.

@fiftyval wish I had the balls to do that! I just stood there and glared at them

I don’t see the problem with this at all.

It’s terribly rude, and I would move them. It’s not your seat until you have been served.

Because this thread hasn’t been done to death.

@LookingForAlaskas oh sorry I’m not glued to mums net 24/7 so haven’t seen this thread before

Hmm I don't know. If DP and I are going somewhere, one of us always gets a seat while the other orders. Jackets and bags are a bit annoying I suppose, but I don't think people sitting there while waiting for the person they're with to order is unreasonable.

I wouldnt order anything until I knew I had a seat.

If im with someone one of us will always sit down at an empty table whilst the other queues. Ive never thought of it as rude, I just think of it as logical. I dont begrudge others doing it either

If im alone and its very busy I rarely sit down in the shop. I take my drink to go and find a queiter spot elsewhere 🤷🏼‍♀️

This is normal and fine. I wouldn’t risk ordering drinks or food to stay in with unless I knew I had a table. What’s the alternative, you stand in a full coffee shop for ages, order, get given a tray and there aren’t any tables free? If you want to take that risk go ahead, but I wouldn’t be daft enough to. Either I would find a free table before ordering or I leave and go somewhere else.

Yes it is selfish and those with food always have more moral right to a table than those still in the queue and all the hats and coats in the world don’t change that

I agree OP. It's selfish.

Sorry I am a table reserver.

Your way makes more sense but everyone reserves a table I want one too.

Well, I'm in a wheelchair now so presumably I'm allowed to reserve a table while dh pays which is a bullshit double standard but thanks I guess but before I was I still had limited mobility and so I would always go sit down while my companion queued as I couldn't stand for that long in pain. You'd never know it to look at me though and if I was already sitting down you'd just see a person reserving a table.

I agree that coats and bags on seats are irritating but if a person is sat down that is different in my book. Why would you want people clogging up the queue anyway surely that means more people in the smallest/busiest part of the shop?

This has been done to death. People fall into two camps. I'm one of those people who will bagsy a table before ordering. Sorry!

I wouldnt order anything until I knew I had a seat.

Nor me.

So many people refuse to save themselves a seat and then complain about it on Mumsnet.

Well,I certainly wouldn't queue up in a coffee shop,order a drink then find that there is nowhere to sit. So no,I don't think there is anything wrong with doing this.

I sit down because I can't stand for 25 minutes. I have RA and get severe joint pain. But to be honest I can't say I have ever had that much of an issue with people doing it. I wouldn't go into a really busy place if it seemed I wouldn't get a table.

I get my kids to sit at a table then go up and order.

Never even occurred to me that some people might get annoyed at this.