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?

Week before last, I arranged to meet a client in a library to do their PIP form.

Unfortunately, the library had some event for small children going on, and they were having some sort of singsong.

We decamped to a cafe where it was considerably quieter.

Good for you! I'm imagining you teleporting to various locations with your laptop, business as usual. Unwavering concentration. 🏅

Impressed you can even imagine it! It certainly makes for a good work-life balance and I enjoy not being stuck in an office all day.i also relaly enjoy my job, and the money it brings, so am happy to work flexibly and outside of the old-fashioned 9-5.

Oh the smugness!

The hard working cafe workers are doing manual work, Smuggy McSmugFace. Manual work is nothing to sneer at - it's vital, important, underpaid hard graft, that we couldn't do without.

Check your privilege.

This is groundbreaking. Well done.

You keep ignoring the posts asking why exactly you are so angry?

I'm not angry at all.

Tomorrow, as I work from the gym cafe between my morning workout and lunchtime exercise class, I'll enhoy remembering I'm a cause for controversy!

Yep, definitely one of those.

Sorry OP but I work almost entirely out of cafes, set my own hours, can pick and choose what work I want, can relax with a coffee, and earn a good living doing so.

But if you feel that spending days posting bitter rants about random strangers online is a better use of your time then you do you.

I meet up with a few friends for coffee followed by lunch once a week. We must spend between us £100 or so a week.

It's full of workers on laptops, groups holding meetings and yes holding interviews. I hate how they glare at us for chatting. If they want a quiet environment then they can work at home. I'm not going to keep quiet for them.

The cafe doesn't think we are disruptive - they save the big round table for us specially!

That's cheeky. If you choose to work in a cafe you can't demand quiet.

Why do you think you know what works for other people? Genuine question.

I'm a book editor, so I need to focus minutely. I find working in cafes pretty conducive to concentration; something about the conversation, music etc being in the background makes it (for me) energising but focusing too. So I am working, not 'working' in your terminology. I am prepared, though, to believe that not everyone would find it the same.

Try not to call anyone a Cunt though. Enjoy your day! 😊

Apologies Hubble, it was someone else who used that word near a child. Ignore my message below

No worries!

If l had a cafe l would rent a few tables out, so much an hour. I don't think it's fair that people get to sit in there for hours at a time for free.

Any cafe that charges people just to sit down at a table (on top of the cost of their food and drink) would go bust immediately.

This sounds sensible and good for business. They get warmth, free wifi and perhaps a free drink.

But you could do it so that only people who are planning to use the table to work for more than say 60 mins would pay. Like parking at a motorway services, you get two hours parking for free and if you want more you pay.

On the contrary, there is a place near me which charges by the table and has much reduced prices for food and drink.

The idea being that if you do want to sit for a longish amount of time working then that's a more sensible way to charge.

They seem to be doing a roaring trade.

So.... yeah.

Yes sounds sensible and they can be allocated an appropriately sized table.

I don't want to share a table.

That's called a co-working space and it already exists. You'd be entering a crowded market.

If you're suggesting charging some people entry and not others, that would be impossible to police and would drive custom away.

What about people who are eating lunch and working at the same time? Do they get charged or not?

Using the space to have a meeting over coffee (which is indistinguishable from two people chatting over coffee)?

Do you have a situation where someone who has purchased expensive meals and wine is charged an additional entry fee just because they have a laptop with them, but mum groups who buy one cup of tea then sit for hours letting their kids tear the place up don't get charged?

Not practical I'm afraid.

Go to a different cafe where you don't have to then.

I'm imagining the rage I might have caused by getting my second screen out and I’ve never noticed…
I work from cafes because it’s noisy and busy. I work for myself and have no colleagues, so sometimes I like to enjoy the social nature of a cafe. Helps me get work done quicker.