People who 'work' at cafe tables

[BeagleMum1]

Why do cafe's allow this? I'm sitting in a cafe and over half the tables are being sat at, by a single person on laptop, 'working'. These tables could seat up to 4 people. Some have bought a cafe drink but others are just sitting there without a drink or food.

They are table blocking and at busier times, will prevent other customers who might buy more drinks / food from getting a seat. AIBU?

Not to mention co-working space business are more expensive to run, since you have to offer more than what a cafe offers if you are charging entry (if you don't, people would just go and use one of the trillion cafes for free).

For example, if the wifi in a cafe goes down, no big deal, since cafes don't promise free wifi.

If the wifi in a co-working spaces goes down, you have to issue refunds, since that is the service people are paying you for. And you have to guarantee quiet, which means policing non-working customers.

I know a couple of people who own co-working spaces (and one person who owns a pub that sells "work from the pub" packages) and the start up and running costs are quite high, in addition to being a competitive field.

@BeagleMum1 I don't do it every day, but 1-2 times a week. I loathe cooking at the moment (lockdown ruined food/cooking as a hobby for me) so on the days I do it I eat a decent meal out and just have a sandwich or something v small/cheap for dinner at home. And I make sure I stay most of the day to make it worth it (eg in electricity/heating saved in winter)
It also helps me feel more part of society as otherwise wfh FT which I do is so lonely. I know the cafe owners and other regulars now. It's nice!

I tried my local coworking but I was the only person there every time I went which defeats the objective of seeing people so I went back to cafes.

So passive-aggressive calling it "working."

No, @BeagleMum1 they're working. And buying coffee or food or both, and probably not leaving a huge mess behind like some parents with kids do.

And it's in a cafe's best interests to have people at their tables - in my opinion, it makes a cafe look more welcoming if there are a few people sitting around already. I don't want to be the only one in there! And I know cafe managers who've told me this.

If people take the mick, most cafes will politely move them on.

How can you be so sure they all are buying food & drink? I would imagine the staff are too busy to keep tabs on this. I think a load of piss taking is going on.

I think it's off putting to see a load of people sitting at tables with laptops open. It makes the environment quite sterile imo. I fail to see how it makes a cafe more welcoming and attractive to passers by,

How can the staff be that busy if the Cafe is full of people with laptops not ordering anything?

The more you rant, the less sense you make 😂

Walrus - has this thread hit a nerve of yours? You seem very angry and worked up. Just pick a small table going forward, and order a drink and panini. It's ok. 😊

You make me laugh.

I am still waiting to see you explaining what makes you so angry about it all.

Quite a few bars and cafes near me offer a 'work from here' deal with unlimited tea or coffee for the day. I did it a lot when I worked remote pre-pandemic and my house was tiny - was nice to get out and about and see people. Nobody ever minded as long as I kept buying drinks and I didn't have noisy meetings or whatever.

I dunno why it would annoy you so much, OP. If someone's taking a table you want, politely ask them if they would mind moving to a smaller one so you can have it, they can only say yes or no.

What a bloody wonderful idea! You have inspired me.

For some reason it genuinely never cured to me that that was an option, and I’ve been complaining I have no time to exercise because I can’t get home in time for my first call. But I could work from the gym cafe, then grab a bonus swim at lunch and go home after. Genius!

Are you taking calls? I’m not bothered about cafe workers but I am bothered about people taking calls/meetings and watching stuff without headphones.

Why?

Why does someone talking on the phone disturb you more than a couple/group talking to each other, on the next table? The sound levels will be similar, in fact, a group of say 4 will usually be louder than one person on their own on their phone.

I've always found cafes etc to be pretty noisy places, and probably wouldn't even register if someone was chatting at normal volume on a phone call, or even listening on a speaker phone.

In fact, I quite like cafes when there are just lots of single people "working", as it's usually quieter to one where there are families, groups of mothers, children, etc., who make a hell of a lot more noise!

The poster might mean being able to hear the person at the other end of the call/meeting, rather than the person in the cafe. I find people's voices over a phone/Zoom more distracting than people in the same room as me. It just has a different sound quality somehow.
Having said that, it can be distracting hearing the voice of the person in the same room too; there's something about the quality of voice when people talk on the phone/Zoom that's subtly different from how they'd just talk to a person in front of them.

@Kazzyhoward

If someone is just quietly sitting on the phone then fine, but if they’ve headphones they nearly always boom! And if not headphones then they have their phone or laptop on loudspeaker which is so intrusive. The tinny electronic noise is really hard to tune out (unlike people talking) for a lot of people and is so inconsiderate.

I get where you’re coming from, OP. Round here I see entitled people hogging a 4-person table to themself for hours while faffing around on a laptop. Normally in the best (comfy) seats, too - meaning that groups of 4 have to huddle around tables for 2. This wouldn’t be tolerated in Paris, where if you move a chair out of its allocated space, you are admonished by the waiter and moved back!

I think I need to visit some Parisian Cafes!

Live scenes. Sorry not sorry.

(I have just eaten a full breakfast here, for what it’s worth).

It's as if they think it's 'their space'. A lack of regard / respect for the other cafe customers.

I think this is what bugs me, the sense of entitlement. Use of oversized table, minimal ordering of drinks / food, noise from calls / meetings / conducting job interviews. It's really narcissistic.

My purpose of entering a cafe is to purchase food & drink, sometimes I'm alone, other times I'm with family & friends. It's not a work space and I resent people turning it into one.

Outrageous! 🤣 I can see a coffee on the table, so I'll let you off. What are you having to eat?

So you're the cafe police now are you? How about leaving it up to the owners/managers to decide on what kind of customers they want in THEIR cafe. You are, of course, free to find a different cafe if you don't like who is in it.

Eggs Royale. There are also a lad of empty tables round me and this is a little one for 2, and I’m not taking any calls. I think I’m in the clear.

And so far this morning I have helped colleagues in Brazil and Singapore produce reports for clients by making changes to the configuration of a software platform. Full on actual work 😀.

Yummy! Enjoy your day

I live in a university town and there are always students working in the bigger chain coffee shops. Some of the smaller ones have polite notices on the table asking to not use it for working during busier periods.

If you've managed to get a table then, I wouldn't hold it against anyone working.

What would annoy me more is someone on their own hogging a 6 seater and not letting anyone else share during busier periods.

@xsquared

What would annoy me more is someone on their own hogging a 6 seater and not letting anyone else share during busier periods.

That would annoy me whatever they were doing, working, reading a book, or even, heaven forbid, eating a meal. It's not what they're doing, it's that they take up a large table forcing others to crowd around squeezed into a smaller one.

Same on trains, when a single person or couple rush to take a "foursome" table leaving groups of 3 or 4 to have to sit apart.

Single people or couples should occupy the smaller tables in cafes/pubs, etc and leave the bigger tables free for larger groups.