People working on laptops in cafes 😡

I’m assuming those people with laptops are ordering coffee and tea every now and again !

I think in your circumstances, I would have asked politely if DH could have sat on the comfy chair whilst having his cup of tea. Probably adding, we wont be long and then you can have the seat back

Library’s don’t allow food or drink. The cafe will encourage them to buy at least drinks.

I do understand your annoyance though.

That's a shame. I can understand you feeling disappointed, but the laptop people have a right to be there too, if they are buying coffee. It must be worth it for the cafe owners or they would ask them to leave, I'm sure.

I can't say I've ever done it, but I know I can't work in libraries, as they are too quiet, but I could work in a cafe where there is a constant buzz that I have to concentrate to screen out, if that makes sense?

It might be worth ringing the cafe and asking if they will reserve a table for you. Cafes in my home town will do that if asked, so it might be worth a try?

Hmm. Your use of the word impunity suggests that people working in cafes are doing something wrong. If they are buying coffee then they are customers just like everybody else c/f book, knitting and parent groups that meet in cafes and stay for a long time. What you might suggest to the owners is that they set aside a comfortable seating area for people who only want to stay a short while, the equivalent of the ten items or fewer section in the supermarket.

At times when I was having to WFH and needed a change of scenery I would pop into the city to work in Cafe Nero. It’s in an old listed building with steep steps that make the upstairs inaccessible for some especially parents and babies and general chatterers so it was a popular place for people who wanted to work away from that kind of hubbub. There is something about the ambience of a coffee shop that makes it conducive to work. I don’t know what it is but it is.

GrannyGravy13

I think in your circumstances, I would have asked politely if DH could have sat on the comfy chair whilst having his cup of tea. Probably adding, ^we wont be long and then you can have the seat back^

I should have done this and certainly will in future, am used to rooting non disabled passengers out of priority seats on public transport so is just another little reminder able bodied people need.

That’s the issue in certain cafes in Durham too, where there is a big student population. Often only one of a big group has a bought drink, while the others share a bottle of water - for hours and hours! I suppose it’s cheaper than using their own power/energy at home.
However, I find it annoying and avoid those places. I’ve often joked that a drink should come with a coloured wristband, like swimming pools had and people would be expected to either buy another drink after their ‘two hour session’ is up, or leave.
I believe it was Starbucks policy that no-one should be asked to leave one of their cafes.

I completely understand that some people might prefer to work in a nice cafe but in this case they should sit at a single table, not take up a table with four easy chairs round it, we could have sat with someone sitting like this, but the table was taken up by the laptop and my DH can upset a cup of tea in the best of circumstances so perching it on the edge of a table is not going to work.

DD says I can't work in libraries.

The same but not because it’s too quiet. Our central public library is huge. It has so many community events going on and other services offered to the public that it can be incredibly noisy.

What was a quite study area downstairs is now a busy cafe. What was another quiet study area upstairs has now been converted to conference rooms that can’t be used unless booked for a group.

I'm old enough to remember when libraries were silent places where stern librarians would shush people. Those days are long gone.

This happens in most cafes I've been to but can be frustrating if you need the comfy chairs and they are all taken by laptop users who are usually there for a while.
As someone else suggested book in advance to make sure you get the seats you want.
It's a shame you had to leave before you'd had your tea. Little outings make all the difference if you are mostly at home.

I d have asked with a nice chatty smile explaining why you can’t use a stool etc . Most people I m sure wouldn’t mind moving if they saw it was for an older or disabled person
Definitely worth asking before going home

Is this one of the reasons that some local cafes are failing? Not enough flow through of customers?

Maremia

Is this one of the reasons that some local cafes are failing? Not enough flow through of customers?

We did observe people in the queue looking at available seating and then leaving.
I imagine it does have an effect.

Cossy

Library’s don’t allow food or drink. The cafe will encourage them to buy at least drinks.

I do understand your annoyance though.

Ours does. It offers free coffee and biscuits.

I would call the cafe manager and ask if it were possible to have a time limit on a few tables, or at least explain the issue. They could be losing customers due to the ones that sit for hours, mostly a table to themselves.

Or a 'lap top free zone'. It would help with turn around for tables.

I know that some restaurants will give you a time slot in which to eat your meal before leaving so that other diners can take the next slot. It maximises profits with each table being measured by how much it can make. In shops the same is measured in square meters, with each meter being used to increase profits. But if one person is sitting at a table with four seats for several hours and perhaps just buying a couple of coffee etc., that is not maximising anything, for in that time frame several people could have come and gone buying numerous beverages and possibly edibles. Am just not seeing this as a profitable business model. And customers who get pee’ed off because there are not enough seats and they can see that management are not taking steps to make sure those working on their laptops in the cafe are only taking up one space will go elsewhere.
But that is just my take on things. Tomorrow a kindly neighbour is going to take us in his car to a really nice cafe in Dulwich park. We love it there. And in all the times we have been there is never anyone working on their laptop and the staff make sure my DH gets a comfy seat.

It’s what’s called working from home these days, except workers aren’t at home, they are sitting for hours in coffee shops causing problems with seating as described here.

They often sit at a table for four with a coat on one chair, bag or laptop case on another.

I also don’t know how they concentrate on work in busy cafes.

As I wrote above, I can work perfectly well in a coffee shop and why shouldn’t I? Have you tried it? I write features and reviews for an arts magazine and find the buzz of a coffee shop (as well as the coffee better than I can make at home) conducive to creativity.

I’m sitting at home working now with music on. Why is working in a cafe with music playing any different? I like the ambience and it makes a change from the isolation of working at home. I find a small table near a power outlet. I buy coffees. Why is my custom worth any less than any other person’s because I happen to be working quietly rather than chatting or yakking on a phone?

Book groups, knitting groups, mums with babies, families and friends, people having business meetings all take up space for hours and maybe only buy one cup of coffee each.

What OP has experienced is possible little different to planning to go to a favourite place for a quiet lunch and finding your favourite table occupied or a rowdy crowd in attendance. At least people working are quiet. They are often wearing headphones.

It’s unfortunate that OP’s spouse is unwell but as she was planning ahead then she should have called ahead, explained and asked to reserve a table.

If where I live is typical, there are literally dozens and dozens of cafes in the high street to chose from. I like Neros too but if it’s busy, I’ll go somewhere else.

Working from home can cause isolation and heating problems so it’s feasible that some would prefer to work in a cafe I wouldn't be able to concentrate I d be too interested (nosey) in what was going on around me,

Perhaps someone should open a working cafe

Most cafes as opposed to restaurants don’t reserve places
My favourite here which does lovely light meals as well as coffee type snacks, won’t let you reserve a place and it’s annoying as my friend drives me there only to find it’s full and we have to go somewhere place else We make it 8 times out of 10 but ….

I am surprised so many people are able to work in coffee shops . We are not allowed due to security of the information we use. I do agree “home “ workers should be considerate and not take up a big table . A lady in Nero’s flounced off when I sat down in an empty seat at the table ( she had one of four seats and I did ask) as she wanted to spread the free paper on the table !

GrannyGravy13

I think in your circumstances, I would have asked politely if DH could have sat on the comfy chair whilst having his cup of tea. Probably adding, ^we wont be long and then you can have the seat back^

That wouldnt even have been necessary to do if I'd been one of those younger laptop users - as I would probably have noticed the two of you and realised you needed comfy seats and for a genuine cup of coffee and offered mine to you and plonked myself on one of the barstools instead.

I do think it's not polite to take up space in a cafe that people who actually want to use it as a cafe need and that space should only be treated as an "office" if it's not required for its real purpose.

Sorry to hear about their missing manners putting you out like that.

PM sent to Fallingstar

Fallingstar

I completely understand that some people might prefer to work in a nice cafe but in this case they should sit at a single table, not take up a table with four easy chairs round it, we could have sat with someone sitting like this, but the table was taken up by the laptop and my DH can upset a cup of tea in the best of circumstances so perching it on the edge of a table is not going to work.

I've noted the "taking up a whole table" thing going on sometimes and there's not been a problem to date - as I could find a normal table that someone wasnt hogging. But - if I needed to sit at a hoggers table then they would have to accept I was going to have my fair share of the space on the table top (4 seats meaning my fair share was 25% of the table top). If my coffee accidentally got spilt = it got spilt. Not something I'd do deliberately - but if an accident happened with the best will in the world then all the drink should be spilling over anyway is cafe stuff (coffeecups, etc) and it wouldnt harm cafe stuff. It would have been their choice to have put their laptop on a cafe table - and they took the risk that comes with that and if it didnt work out for them through a genuine accident = they won't be doing that again anywhere and they will have to deal with the consequences of their behaviour themselves. They were the ones that took the risk of putting their item near other peoples drinks. If there's consequences = they bear them.

Spoilt people would doubtless object - and try and make out it wasnt their own fault their laptop had been hurt. But it would be their own fault - and so they do bear those consequences...