Teams calls in cafe and toddler

[Swiftswatch]

I’m probably being unreasonable for posting here in the first place since there’s a bit of an anti kids in public sentiment here at times, but when did it become acceptable for people to think a coffee shop is the same as an office??
I was just having breakfast and a coffee with my toddler and someone was taking a teams call at a nearby table. If it’s relevant we were seated first.
Toddler was being good as gold imo, I get sometimes they can be too loud or badly behaved but they were just sat drinking their juice and having a little babble and sing, occasionally pointing out things they seen. “Cup! Cup!” Obviously louder than if I was just sat by myself but really not a disturbance and no louder than any other table of 2 chatting.

The man was sat sighing and rolling his eyes for about ten minutes until I just had to turn to him and say ‘sorry but this is actually a cafe not an office, if you’re in a meeting and need silence you’re in the wrong place’.
He did a big huff, picked up his laptop and walked off trying to find a new table but had to come back as it was too busy.

Now he’s sitting there giving me evil eyes.

AIBU to think I’m not in the wrong here?? I’m really not a confrontational person and normal wouldn’t speak up but a public cafe at breakfast time isn’t exactly the place to do a work meeting!
If people want to rave about working from home then go fucking work at home. People out in public don’t need to tiptoe around you because you want a change of scenery during the work day while you sit in meetings.

I’m one of those people who wfh and goes about her day so pretty much take work calls anywhere including team calls but I would never expect others to be silent for me ! Even at home I go in my office away from the kids and partner , if he is not then I leave work calls when my youngest is asleep or we’ll entertained with her older siblings . It’s his responsibility to move into a place he can communicate well

I WFH and sometimes pop to a cafe to work. I absolutely only do this when I don’t need to take calls, it’s specifically marked as such in my calendar.

YANBU, a cafe is not an office you can control so you can’t expect silence for your call and should accept that you also look obnoxious taking calls in a public cafe.

Indeed.
I read a story the other day about a man who died in an internet cafe in Taiwan after a three day gaming bender. Internet cafes look completely different to cafes that offer WiFi to customers.

@Inkpotlover Yes it was me, and I specifically asked if "laptop-worker" cafes existed, not internet cafes.

Having a teams call in a public space is a serious no no. As a (difficult) client I'd quit the call, I like my business properly handled thanks.

I normally think children should be seen and not heard in public but I'd have got the kid to sing even louder. If he needs quiet to work, in public isn't the place.

Well, exactly.

Specialist cafes offering ultra high speed internet these days are for gamers, not people on a Teams call, which can be done in any cafe.

YANBU.

People who treat public spaces like an extension of their office are insufferable. If it's a coworking space, fine, that's what they're for. If they're not doing a call but working quietly on their laptop, not hogging a table for an unreasonably long time during a busy period and not giving others the side eye for making noise, fine. Otherwise, fuck off home, or to your actual office.

Ditto. I think I would join someone at a table, and if they object, point to my food and drink and say, "I am actually eating and drinking, therefore I need a table for my cup and plate. You are not, so you don't."

Indeed. YANBU, OP and well done for speaking up.

Its not a problem if they are working away on their laptop. Its when they do their calls. Other day I decided to have lunch outside, just to get out the house. Took a book and got a drink and sandwich. Now I don't mind the normal chit chat noise that happens in a coffee shop or kids in their. Its easy to tune out. But then a lady sat down on the table next to me, faffing bout in such an stressed manner to get set up for her call. Then all I could hear is work chat. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Last thing I wanted to do is hear someone else's work chat! Its quite irritating its on par with not wanting to hear other peoples kids having a tantrum but if its your own you can deal with it.

I'd have been wheels on the bussing it loudly.

Asolutely YANBU!

I'll work in a cafe, accepting I need to be spending money and that other people have just as much right as me to a non office environment. If it gets loud I go home.

I work a lot in cafes and provided that the child wasn't creating havoc, as he wasn't, this wouldn't bother me at all. Other people could equally say that his Teams meeting is disturbing the peace of the cafe (some people talk so loudly or don't bother with headphones).
He should get some noise cancelling earphones or go to a library/the office if he wants silence.

Not unreasonable at all!! I sometimes work in a cafe for a change of scenery but plan it when I don’t have calls so I don’t need to
worry! He’s totally in the wrong there….

I've been freelance, work from home for about 20 years. Way before it became fashionable. I have in the past escaped to a coffee shop for a change of scenery or to escape internet issues or noisy building work at home. But my work does not involve video calls!!

Totally inappropriate, the person on the other end of the call might not appreciate their business being broadcast to everyone in Costa either.

As a student DS used to go to cafes with his laptop because he found it easier to work in background noise than in silence. Which makes the man you encountered seem even more of an arse, really.

My god, that is the biggest reach I've ever seen on Mumsnet and I've been here for years. Some posters will tie themselves in knots to excuse arsehole behaviour.

Fair play to you for telling him!
And yanbu of course.

He said nothing to you and didn’t ask you to keep the noise down.

No doubt you’re right, but it is rather an assumption that the eyerolling was directed at you, especially if he was on a call/meeting.

I don’t really understand why people get so upset about so called ‘dirty looks’ or other non-verbal behaviour from others around them. If you’re so sure you’re doing nothing wrong just go about your business.

YANBU. The same thing happened to me recently when in a cafe with my toddler, good for you for saying something.

Exactly.

I don't get how so many people on here get so animated over someone else rolling their eyes.

Nothing wrong with taking a toddler into a coffee shop. Nothing wrong with taking a laptop there, either, provided this falls within their company policy.

Where this falls down is that this man not only expected to use that space in a way that suited him, but expected others to work around his particular requirements. You don't go to a venue like a coffee shop and expect silence.

I'd also stake a wild bet that if the child had been with their father this wouldn't have happened.

Speaking as someone who has used cafes and hotels for business meetings and calls for nearly 20 years, I agree with you Op! TBH, I wouldn't take a Teams or Zoom call in a cafe, unless I had headphones (and probably not even then).

YANBU. I feel the same about people who WFH and are annoyed that their neighbours have the audacity to do DIY, or let children play out in the garden. If you want a quiet, office-like environment go to the actual office instead of expecting everyone else to tip toe around you.