To think it’s weird to sit at someone’s table without asking?

[orancing]

I’m sat having a coffee waiting for my train and some woman has just plonked herself on the other seat … and not said anything.

I mean if she’d asked u would have said “of course” … I mean for all she knows I’m with someone.

Railway station is different to cafe: if there’s a seat free, I’m having it and I’m not messing about.

OP. Have you considered that you might be the weird one here?

It's not weird but it is at least presumptuous and verging on ill-mannered. A simple request to sit down is all that's needed.

Genuinely confused as to how I’m “weird”?

I was in St Pancras at a cafe, not in a waiting room and not near an announcement board. I’m sat at a small round table that has 2 seats facing each other.

So yes I do personally find it odd that someone wouldn’t just ask “do you mind if I sit there”

I may be being obtuse, or the post has been edited, but I can’t see where the OP says it is a waiting area specifically? Just ‘waiting for a train’, which could be a cafe!

I'd ask 100% of the time in a cafe. I'd ask 0% of the time on a train.

This sounds half way between the two, so either is fine.

It’s just bad manners to do this if indeed people like to ascribe to what would have been very much a societal norm in the past.

It's a train station waiting area table. Perfectly reasonable for her to just take a seat.

St pancreas is always busy. After travelling all day, working all day, etc if a seat is free I'm going to use it. It's a cafe in a station, people travelling are always going to need seats

Oh my god … I just can’t. Are you able to comprehend that I clarified it was a cafe.

And there’s restaurants there too. Would you be ok being sat at a table and a stranger sits opposite you to order food without saying a single word to you?

But you where in a cafe not a restaurant big difference. If Id been on a train and had an hour wait for the next train, got a coffee in a train station cafe and needed a seat I would take the seat available regardless if there was someone already at the table. I'm not going to stand to appease you

It’s London and the Eurostar terminal. I’d just acknowledge that the other customer could have been from any one of the places where etiquette is different from Britain and where casual cafe seating, particularly in transit stations where people aren’t there for a leisurely period of time, is seen as a lot more relaxed and free-for-all. It’s not really worth dwelling on too much.

I would ask. But equally if I was alone I wouldn't care if they just sit as it's not my seat and I don't need it. Especially somewhere so transient and unatmospheric as a train station cafe.

I'd be more annoyed I guess if it was a nice place I'd chosen to travel to and wanted to sit in peace and quiet, savouring my food/drink.

Took you a while to drip feed that!

No sweetheart, I posted this and forgot about it and only remembered when I saw a notification so I responded to clarify. I’m not chronically online like you probably are.

😅 👏 Who pissed on your Shreddies this morning? 🤷‍♀️

I wouldn't do it, but on the other hand, if I had something on my mind I might well do it without thinking as I am a bit dozy when I'm preoccupied. It would have been polite of her to ask if the seat was taken.

I wouldn't ask permsision to sit there but I would ask if it's free first.

I think it’s a bit impolite, yes. I’d say a quick, ‘do you mind’, in a cafe. Train station or not.

But brace yourself, OP, you’re in for a few…’well if that’s the worst that’s happened to you today…’ or even the ‘why the outrage?’ (Never mind you didn’t express outrage) 😜

Oh you really are that intolerant. No wonder you think someone sitting next to you is strange, you have no moral decency

Yanbu (though yabu for being rude to people here when your OP wasn't clear it was a cafe). It's really odd and rude not to ask if you can share a cafe table.