Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Queue jumping in cafés

331 replies

JoanThursday1972 · 06/03/2023 19:42

I was in a queue buying coffee to take out today. It was practically full and in front of me was a man by himself buying a sandwich and tea to stay in, and one available table only.

Two women came in behind me, one swanned off and took the only spare table whilst her friend bought the drinks.

Basically they'd pushed in. I think it's extremely rude. I didn't see what happened as I got my takeaway coffee and left. I do hope he challenged them though.

OP posts:
Original poster
JoanThursday1972 · 09/03/2023 10:21

Doesthepopeshitinthewoods · 09/03/2023 10:17

Oh no, according to the OP you’re allowed to eat out but only at prebooked restaurants. ‘Multigenerational’ families don’t or shouldn’t use coffee shops apparently 😆

I can’t honesty get over people finding out common sense rude. Do they really think standing in a queue, blocking the counter, with an elderly companion or a toddler is the ‘right’ thing to do? They’re all absolutely bonkers. Fortunately, they’re also in the minority.

Show quote history

Thanks for the misrepresentation of my comments 😉

OP posts:
Knitterofcrap · 09/03/2023 10:23

Yes I did miss the quotes as they were grammatically superfluous.

CasperGutman · 09/03/2023 10:44

@JoanThursday1972 - you'd have liked a café I went to in Boston once: they have a rule that "no patron, or a member of a patron's party, may occupy a table until their food is ready" which they do "to ensure that other patrons, more often than not, can find a table when their food is ready".

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paramount,_Boston

IAmMam · 09/03/2023 10:47

Because it may be a typically fast moving place, I’m talking about this type of place where queues are usually to the door because things move quickly.if people grab tables from towards the back of the queue, it doesn’t give people in front the chance to sit and eat/drink

Original poster
JoanThursday1972 · 09/03/2023 10:59

CasperGutman · 09/03/2023 10:44

@JoanThursday1972 - you'd have liked a café I went to in Boston once: they have a rule that "no patron, or a member of a patron's party, may occupy a table until their food is ready" which they do "to ensure that other patrons, more often than not, can find a table when their food is ready".

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paramount,_Boston

They don't have bookable in advance tables then?

OP posts:
KatysMumJen · 09/03/2023 11:19

He should’ve scanned the room, clocked the situation and gone to the pub.
He could’ve been having an ice cold Peroni and a bag of scampi fries perched at the bar…
I bet he felt a right div, stood there with a tray with nowhere to sit.

FoxInSocksSatOnBlocks · 09/03/2023 11:26

JoanThursday1972 · 09/03/2023 10:10

I suppose this all goes to show that people who behave "politely" (as in the case of the guy I saw earlier in the week) are disadvantaged through their "politeness".

It’s not politeness, it’s stupidity and shows a lack of common sense.

NotAnotherBathBomb · 09/03/2023 13:11

JoanThursday1972 · 09/03/2023 10:10

I suppose this all goes to show that people who behave "politely" (as in the case of the guy I saw earlier in the week) are disadvantaged through their "politeness".

Yes. Survival of the fittest. Get with it. Stop being stupid polite.

NotAnotherBathBomb · 09/03/2023 13:13

CasperGutman · 09/03/2023 10:44

@JoanThursday1972 - you'd have liked a café I went to in Boston once: they have a rule that "no patron, or a member of a patron's party, may occupy a table until their food is ready" which they do "to ensure that other patrons, more often than not, can find a table when their food is ready".

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paramount,_Boston

The fact that they have a Wikipedia page, for which that rule is the bulk of the write up, proves the point that it's not the norm 😂

ChickenDhansak82 · 09/03/2023 13:17

I once witnessed an argument in a café where this elderly woman had sat at a table whilst her friend got the drinks, then another elderly couple who had waited together in the queue and already paid couldn't find a table, so they sat down at the same table.

"This table is take"
"You haven't got any food and we have"
blah blah blah...

It got quite heated but the people with the food quite rightfully didn't move!

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 09/03/2023 13:19

ChickenDhansak82 · 09/03/2023 13:17

I once witnessed an argument in a café where this elderly woman had sat at a table whilst her friend got the drinks, then another elderly couple who had waited together in the queue and already paid couldn't find a table, so they sat down at the same table.

"This table is take"
"You haven't got any food and we have"
blah blah blah...

It got quite heated but the people with the food quite rightfully didn't move!

I wouldn't have moved either. If I was the person sat waiting. Rightfully.

Petrarkanian · 09/03/2023 13:28

I've missed this thread, hasn't been one of these for ages.

I come from a family of grab a table while one person queues, I never knew anyone did it any other way until I joined mumsnet.

Panda89 · 09/03/2023 13:41

I'm just thinking of our local Tesco cafe for example, the menu is behing the counter and you are essentially forced into the queue line by dividers/walls.
Does the designated queue-r memorise everyone's orders, how do the others check the menu if they aren't in the queue? DD will probably change her mind 5 times whilst we are in the queue 😂

We always queue up together (me DH and DD) and I definitely see lots of other families do the same.

SofiaSoFar · 09/03/2023 14:39

KatysMumJen · 09/03/2023 11:19

He should’ve scanned the room, clocked the situation and gone to the pub.
He could’ve been having an ice cold Peroni and a bag of scampi fries perched at the bar…
I bet he felt a right div, stood there with a tray with nowhere to sit.

If you'd really tried you could have made that more sexist.

It would have been a struggle though, admittedly.

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 09/03/2023 14:50

SofiaSoFar · 09/03/2023 14:39

If you'd really tried you could have made that more sexist.

It would have been a struggle though, admittedly.

Show quote history

Eh? I'd prefer be in a pub than a busy café to be honest. Nothing sexist about it.

xogossipgirlxo · 09/03/2023 14:59

Petrarkanian · 09/03/2023 13:28

I've missed this thread, hasn't been one of these for ages.

I come from a family of grab a table while one person queues, I never knew anyone did it any other way until I joined mumsnet.

Me neither😂In fact, people reserving seats is quite helpful. You go to the coffee shop, scan the room, see if any seats are available and then you decide if you want to order. When it looks too busy, I don't even bother or order coffee to go. It's hard to justify from the queue how many people decide to stay in and how many of then just grabs take out coffee.

MissBattleaxe · 09/03/2023 17:47

Not this old chestnut again! Where I live one queues and one gets a table. It's the accepted practice. There was a long and heated thread about this not so long ago
How is life in Bridgerton?!

LOL, yes I can see why that sounded posh. I meant to say one person queues and one person gets a table but I ended up sounding like Prince/King Charles!

KatysMumJen · 09/03/2023 18:03

SofiaSoFar · 09/03/2023 14:39

If you'd really tried you could have made that more sexist.

It would have been a struggle though, admittedly.

Show quote history

I actually agree with the point you’ve been making all along.

I would’ve gone to the pub, I would’ve perched myself at the bar and had an ice cold beer.

I felt for the guy with nowhere to sit, I think it’s brazen af to sit at a table whilst someone is stood about with a tray.

The woman who’d let him stand there with a tray is 100% the woman who’d expect him to give up his seat for her on the tube.

I much prefer the pub.

ALongHardWinter · 09/03/2023 18:29

As person with a disability (severe arthritis in multiple joints) I'm certainly not going to queue up in a cafe or coffee shop before reserving myself a table! I did this once and was left standing with a tray of food and drink and nowhere to sit.

T1Dmama · 09/03/2023 21:29

So next time I take my 97 year old Nan out for a coffee I have to make her stand in the queue rather than find her a seat at a table before ordering?
This just isn’t how cafes work, if you don’t grab a table someone else will.

SofiaSoFar · 09/03/2023 22:35

@KatysMumJen Apologies, I completely misinterpreted what you were saying.

N27 · 14/03/2023 09:22

“But you haven’t got a table, and I have”

this mentality baffles me. Why would you both queue up to get food and drink with no guarantee that you’re going to be able to eat it anywhere?

Original poster
JoanThursday1972 · 14/03/2023 09:35

N27 · 14/03/2023 09:22

“But you haven’t got a table, and I have”

this mentality baffles me. Why would you both queue up to get food and drink with no guarantee that you’re going to be able to eat it anywhere?

From all of these comments it's clear that cafes and coffee shops need to have guidelines in place. Either get a table first, come and order and give your table number and we will serve you (but if you are on your own you risk having your stuff stolen) or a notice that everyone gets served first and then gets a table. Everything seems to be a mix of the two and a free for all.

OP posts:
Islandgirl68 · 14/03/2023 18:43

But from my experience, you were left looking for a table because, people had jumped the Q and grabbed a table before they had bought their food and drink. If people wait their turn, this tends not to happen.

Original poster
JoanThursday1972 · 14/03/2023 18:54

Islandgirl68 · 14/03/2023 18:43

But from my experience, you were left looking for a table because, people had jumped the Q and grabbed a table before they had bought their food and drink. If people wait their turn, this tends not to happen.

I was getting takeaway coffee. It was a man in front of me just about to go to the last empty table with his food and drink when one of two women who were behind me swooped down and took the table. There's no 'rules' there, people make them up. Other establishments may be different.

OP posts:
Swipe left for the next trending thread