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.

Not sure about that seeing as he 'did a big huff' and flounced off when challenged, then came back and gave the OP evil eyes.

"I think my argument is that the differentiation between an office and a cafe is now a bit blurred; partly due to WFH and partly due to the rise of online-based businesses and working."

I disagree with that. A cafe is a cafe and an office is an office. They are totally different environments with totally different purposes. A cafe is a business which sells food and drink. An office is a place of work. If people want to work while in a cafe, fine, but you cannot expect others to accommodate your wish for silence while you discuss the inane details of your job. You really shouldn't be doing that in public anyway.

Good for you!

I was first of a group of friends to arrive at the cafe a while ago and sat at the big round table in the corner (where we sit every week) when a group of very important people came in and tried to make me move so they could have a work meeting.

Obviously I didn't.

What a dick!!!! Yes of course you were right to say something - this doesn't surprise me at all sadly.

Not RTFT but you were not in the wrong.

Doing anything in a public space like a cafe without headphones on is rude. So having Teams calls, having a personal call between toddler and parent, anyone listening to music or watching something. Use headphones!

I went with my son's class and there was of course the couple with the arsy stares and eyerolls when 25 5 year olds entered costa. I get it's noisy, but it was such a lovely experience for them, Costa isn't exactly the Ritz, and we were only there fore 15 minutes.

I'm not surprised people got a bit annoyed about it. 25 5 year olds plus helpers/teachers would completely take over the place, not to mention the noise. They wouldn't know that you were only going to be 15 minutes either unless you had a timer. I'd have left though rather than continue to sit there but no one wants to have a coffee sitting in the middle of a creche. It doesn't have to be the Ritz for people to find that less than desirable.

I went with my son's class and there was of course the couple with the arsy stares and eyerolls when 25 5 year olds entered costa. I get it's noisy, but it was such a lovely experience for them, Costa isn't exactly the Ritz, and we were only there fore 15 minutess

To be fair, this sounds like hell. And I bet it was more than 15 minutes, there's no way a Costas barista could do that many drinks that quickly!

As always, a handful of posters are DETERMINED that the OP is at fault, despite it being blatantly obvious that a bloke huffing and eye-rolling about normal toddler behaviour is out of order.

Let's not criticise the menz, eh?

This, exactly. Just because people choose to try to work in a cafe it doesn't make it a workplace.

My friend and I went into a cafe last week for a light lunch. We'd just done a 12km walk and it was after 2pm so we were starving. We sat down at one of the few free tables only to discover that the 3 people on the table next to us appeared to be conducting a job interview! Two of them were sat one side of the table asking questions and the other person on the other side of the table answering them. They were sat about 2ft away from us. It was really annoying. After a few minutes another table was vacated so we were able to move but it was the strangest thing. I actually felt a bit uncomfortable and really sorry for the poor girl being interviewed 😏

Like so much on Mumsnet, it all depends on circumstance and role.

I would not do a new client pitch from my local Costa via Teams. I might do a catch-up with my own team, though, if I had been working away from my office. The risk of using the cafe WiFi is that my signal drops and I have to transfer to 5G. So what?

Why did he huff off to another table after OP spoke to him if it wasn't anything to do with her and her toddler?

Maybe because this rude woman was interrupting his Teams call.

I do a lot of work on weekends and evenings in coffee shops. But I always stick headphones in and get on with it, I’d never tell someone else to be quiet because I was working, unless they were standing on a chair screaming at top of their lungs - in which case I would imagine everyone would complain! The guy was entitled, he had no more right to be there than you, and if he needs somewhere for a professional call, there are places he can hire

I had this years and years ago. It was for a job where I would have to relocate and the director came and met me at a hotel where we had the interview over a coffee. There wasn’t really an alternative at the time, but this was 20 years ago

Well done op what a cock he was.

I think we can interpret a sigh and an eye roll to mean he was annoyed at the situation.

But we don't know if he was specifically annoyed at the child's behaviour or his own stupidity at trying to carry out a Teams call in a cafe or the nature of his WiFi connection or a million other things.

It's you that are extrapolating a sigh and an eye-roll to mean he was expecting perfect silence from a toddler.

🙄

I am with you OP. I can see that there may be unforeseen circumstances where someone ends up having to take a Teams call in a cafe (say train cancelled, bad weather) and in those circumstances they should have headphones to hear others and perhaps say 'I am in a public place' to others on the call.

This was not one of them. I would have been tempted to speak to those on the Teams call if possible to embarrass the said man.

I don't mind people taking a quick call/ sending an email whilst in a cafe (unless they are there for hours and hours and only sipping one cold coffee but taking up a table... That feels unfair to the cafe!). I've done it myself on occasion, quickly though, but you cannot expect quiet in a cafe. That's utterly daft. And passive aggressive eye-rolling and sighing because children are behaving like children in a place they have every right to be is totally wankerish behaviour. Well done OP for calling him out.

This! Most work places give you headphones with mics if you're usually office based.

You're so NBU. This reminds me of Motherland - the guy taking up a large table by himself because he wants the wall plug for his work laptop, and Liz says she should've brought her iron along to do the laundry. That aside I hate cafe-meeters, it seems really performative. People drinking coffee dgaf about your forecasts or your minutes or what you're going to "thrash out".

Well done for saying it. If hes WFH, then thats where he should be. If he wanted to pop out for a quick drink in a cafe and work at the same time, then he has to accept the general noise of a cafe. He could have had a whole table of Mums with noisy toddlers next to him! 😀

He was making you feel uncomfortable rolling his eyes so you were justified saying something and theres also a place he could be if he wants to work quietly…the office! Shocker!

You have no idea whether this was the man's circumstances or not - the OP hasn't said. She hasn't said if he was wearing earphones and I'm not sure how you know about the details of his public transport arrangements.

I bet you will find those posters to be in the ahole category too 😁