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?

Ah, there we have it. 'performative'. Are you also the kind of person who posts on here in a white-hot fury about people having the temerity to work on the train, absolutely convinced that they're doing it to show off?
It's quite egotistical. People are probably not doing things in order to show off to you.

A busy-looking cafe is more appealing to passing trade.
People who work from them, even if they don't buy much, may return day after day., and repeat business is valuable.
Someone who is warmly welcomed as a worker in a cafe will likely remember the place and go there when they DO want to go for a big lunch/suggest somewhere for a meal to friends etc.

I work at home, and occasionally go to a local cafe. Not because I fancy putting on a quick situationist event but because e.g. someone else in my household is also working at home, doing noisy calls, which I find distracting; or a near neighbour is having noisy work done; or just because I fancy a change of scene and I find cafes more congenial than shared workspaces.

At quiet times they are not 'table blocking' because there are still tables free. At busier times they are no more 'table blocking' than anyone else who sits there drinking a coffee for an hour.

There's a place near me that actively encourages people to come in and work/study during the day, so they obviously don't have a problem with it. Having a few tables occupied even at quieter times is also helpful sometimes for encouraging other people to come in. If someone walks past a cafe just before lunchtime and sees it completely empty, they sometimes feel awkward about going in and being the sole customer, and will go somewhere else. But if they walk past and see that a few tables are occupied they're more likely to choose that place than an empty place to get some lunch.

Single people should be banned from public spaces, except obviously places like hotels where they pay their way, i.e. double what each member of a couple pays.

Presumably because the Tories have mostly shut them down.

I also think there's a element of pretentiousness to it as well. Why not work at home? I think there is something rather performative about it.

I see threads like this a lot - assuming that random passersby are only doing whatever they happen to be doing to impress the OP. I think it's a form of narcissism and maybe the result of being Extremely Online/main character syndrome.

I remember several different threads from OPs outraged at other women carrying takeaway coffee or even water bottles around, and the same "well obviously they're just doing it to show off because otherwise they'd just go and drink a coffee at home."

No one gives a shit about you and what you think, and no one is trying to impress you. People are just living their lives in the way that makes the most sense for them.

I don't have a desk at home so working from my flat isn't an option. Most of my friends live with flatmates so working from home is very difficult. In summer it's pretty crucial for me to be able to work somewhere with air conditioning.

Why not go sit in a library?

Libraries are way noisier than cafes now, since they're community spaces and frequently have tons of kids and have various community activities going on. It's impossible to find a seat in my local library since it's all kids. Besides I like to sip coffee while I work which obviously you can't do in a library.

Cafe 'workers' - please chose an appropriately sized table. Don't block a 4 seater and pay your way!

Why do you keep putting “workers” and “working” in quotes? Do you believe that people are not actually working, but just pretending to work? Why would they do that?

Thankfully lots of cafes say no laptops at weekends. Unfortunately one of our favourite local museums, which is really popular with families at weekends, allows them so there's a single student on a laptop at each table and nowhere for parents and kids to sit while actually spending money on a meal.

I also think there's a element of pretentiousness to it as well. Why not work at home? I think there is something rather performative about it.
😂😂😂

Tell us more. Is it the LAPTOP the issue?
Where do you stand on smartphone?

Or is what you can see or guess is on the screen that is pretentious?
spreadsheets? quickbook? Sage are pretentious?
Are they more pretentious than Word? GSuite? Concur? Slack?
I am guessing ProWriting is the epitomy of pretentiousness. What about Procreate? 😂

Is browsing on vinted or Virgin holidays pretentious?

That is fascinating 😂

Maybe the laptops are fake, disguising a portable tanning booth? 😂

i spend hardly any time actually on MN, i have a quick glimpse most days in the morning to see if there is anything worth responding to. This particular thing is something that bugs me, as it does many other people apart mostly from people who are guilty of doing it and think it is fine. However you dress it up, it bugs lots of people and nothing you say will make me change my mind. I'd actually never open a cafe for that reason as i'd be like the Basil Fawlty of cafe shops. I'd be throwing you lot out left right and centre 🙂

If you were blocking a table meant for four with your book or holiday booking, yes, I'd absolutely think you were an entitled twat.

Maybe you people who have nothing better to do with your time than hang around in cafes not working, goggling at and gossiping about other people in the middle of a weekday should think about getting a job?

Sounds like boredom and jealousy.

so if you arrive alone in a cafe, and the only table left is a 4 people table, you just wait on the side until a smaller table becomes available? Because you are not a twat yourself?

Of course you do 😂

Riiiight. Because everyone who goes to cafes obviously doesn't have a job

You obviously never go to cafes! An unavailable four person table, when all the two seaters have been taken? That's about a likely as a ballet dancing hippo

@BeagleMum1 I was planning on illegally sitting here with nothing but air so I can use the facilities. Ofcourse I've bought food and drink! An americano with cream and a butter croissant if you're interested. I've also a tiny table next to a plug socket. Almost as though remote workers are part of the cafes target demographic and they've catered for us...

People who have enough spare time to spend significant time in cafes during the daytime, not working, staring at other people, being preoccupied with gossiping about strangers because they have nothing else to distract them, then spending all day every day on Mumsnet, are clearly not overly burdened with work.

(And before you point out the obvious, I'm off sick right now. Normally I only visit MN on the occasional Sunday.)

Then elaborate on what exact rules everyone should follow.

Laptop? banned
Phone? Banned too I am guessing.
Reading a book? banned
Newspaper? The horror, they take so much spae.
Single people? Kicked out after 20 minutes
Mum with a noisy baby? banned

Do tell us more about the etiquette of being a customer in a cafe you believe in.

I don’t care as long as I don’t have to listen to a team’s meeting.

Yes, it seems the point of cafes now is to down you coffee and eat your food as quickly as possible, taking up as little space as possible, and then leave because otherwise you are taking the piss.

huh? I can think of at least 3 coffee shops here with smaller tables at the windows, and the bigger tables in the middle. Where do you think people prefer to sit?

The bigger tables. Those are always the first to go where I am (mainly big mum groups).

At my local cafes people go for the ones with the comfy chairs first. It has one of those big communal type tables in the middle, noone ever really sits there. Despite being very big.

Radical thought but we don't all live in the same area.