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Did you buy that latte 2 hours ago? Think about leaving the coffee shop

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Re: Did you buy that latte 2 hours ago? Think about leaving the coffee shop

#71

Post by r00fus »

speeder wrote: post #48
ryandrake wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen this as well. Some people get really weirded out when you sit down and share a table with them when it gets busy. There's a table there that seats six, and you're just two people sitting at it. It's not YOUR exclusive table. You don't own it. If you really want to have a private conversation without anyone around, don't go to a busy coffee shop.

Near where I live there is a bakery/cafe/bar hybrid that has all tables being 3 tables for 2 people joined side by side. When it is full, frequently it happens that if there is two people on one set of 6, the other 4 places are empty (does not matter where the two people are). Except when the staff bother separating the tables by a inch or two, then all tables get used, it is a really curious effect.

Amusingly, in such a situation, I explicitly separate or join the tables myself to fit my party size.

Re: Did you buy that latte 2 hours ago? Think about leaving the coffee shop

#72

Post by mercer »

My general approach is to buy a coffee or snack every once in a while, and more frequently when I notice that I'm occupying 'valuable' space. This might be the case even when there are plenty of empty seats, but they share a table with occupied seats.

At lunch or dinner time, when it gets busy, I usually leave so the cafe doesn't lose on customers ordering something substantial, or I order something bigger myself.

When I frequent the same place often I also try to make sure to get to know the staff, and help them out a bit by at the very least bringing my dirty stuff to the counter if I'm one of the few customers there. They seem to really like the occasional chat when it's quiet, and it has all kinds of perks (including just the interpersonal quality).

I don't really understand why so many people don't employ a similar approach. I mean, it's not that it surprises me: here in the West at least people seem to really relish the 'consumer/employee' approach where somehow a 'transaction' replaces any human connection.

But I still don't understand it, as part of the fun of being outside of the house, and life in general, is interacting with other humans, rather than roles (cashiers, waiters, etc.). I often go to the slightly pricier Turkish supermarket in my neighbourhood instead of the supermarket precisely because I get to have a nice chat with a guy I sort of know, and observe a slice of life in this colorful immigrant/poor neighbourhood.

Re: Did you buy that latte 2 hours ago? Think about leaving the coffee shop

#73

Post by mercer »

mavdi wrote: post #21

This is becoming a real issue for me. I've basically stopped goings to cafes and bars because the owners seem annoyed by me camping around and I can only drink so many cups of coffee a day. I would gladly pay an hourly rent if they'd be happy with that but it seems once they've decided that I'm not welcome there nothing can change their mind.

If these places are run by the owners, perhaps you could consider asking them directly if paying some amount directly is an option? I think even just asking might make them less annoyed!

Re: Did you buy that latte 2 hours ago? Think about leaving the coffee shop

#74

Post by srean »

dang wrote: post #65
srean wrote: post #63

I would be a happy customer if coffee shops sold their most popular product directly: time @ the coffee shop. I guess the businesses would be happier too. One should figure out a more efficient way of handling short term leases than that coffee mug that proxies as something that is almost but not quite totally unlike a lease agreement. Take my credit card and charge me on how much time I have been there, hand out bli…

I love working in cafes and have done it a ton. Every so often someone tries a radical variation on the basic model, but it almost always feels awkward and doesn't last long. One that I was surprised to see actually work, though, is the Workshop Cafe in SF's financial district. Their model is much what you described. It's a cross between a huge café and a big office, which ought to be terrible, but manages not to be.…

Glad that it worked. As long as it is not too noisy, I really love working from cafe's.

Re: Did you buy that latte 2 hours ago? Think about leaving the coffee shop

#76

Post by rrss1122 »

lcfg wrote: post #15

If someone "just" bought something in your shop (as mentioned in the article) you shouldn't bother them. If you're running a business like this, managing expectations is a large part of your job. When discussions with customers occur frequently maybe it's time to review how your business is communicating with customers. What can be done to prevent misunderstandings regarding using laptops/hogging tables? etc.

What can be done is really to bother them. They set up to filter all outside noise anyway so that's the only way to get their attention.

If a coffee shop owner gets a bad reputation among teleworkers doing this, then that just means less for the coffee shop owner, getting him exactly the objective he wanted.

Re: Did you buy that latte 2 hours ago? Think about leaving the coffee shop

#77

Post by lwhalen »

milhous wrote: post #61
noobermin wrote: post #31

I wouldn't be surprised if a significant number of people here do this. I do this as well. Most of the time, I'm not asked to leave, but other times, if I feel guilty, I buy something else, like another coffee or a sweet. I suppose I'd willing to "rent" space if it were available. A funny relevant anecdote. Yesterday, I was at home trying to work, and I could not focus, so I walked to a nearby coffeeshop. Apparently,…

Loved the photo's caption of the "laptop brigade", lol. If there's a point where a significant portion of a community become knowledge workers, then it would be advantageous for local coffee shops to adapt to a co-working atmosphere. It wouldn't surprise me if a chain such as Starbucks did something like this in the future. When I was working remotely and in-between jobs, I regularly squatted and rotated through coff…

> I'm at the point now where coffee shop squatting is just too much of a hassle and would rather pay to have a quiet working environment

Pardon my ignorance, but why isn't "working from home" an option? I WFH myself (current $job is 100% remote) and I bounce between my super comfy couch and a standing desk all day. Bonus, I get to make my own coffee, eat whatever/whenever I want, and I never have to worry about the social stigma of 'squatting' some coffeeshop-owner's turf. :-)

Re: Did you buy that latte 2 hours ago? Think about leaving the coffee shop

#78

Post by JoeAltmaier »

lwhalen wrote: post #77
milhous wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Loved the photo's caption of the "laptop brigade", lol. If there's a point where a significant portion of a community become knowledge workers, then it would be advantageous for local coffee shops to adapt to a co-working atmosphere. It wouldn't surprise me if a chain such as Starbucks did something like this in the future. When I was working remotely and in-between jobs, I regularly squatted and rotated through coff…

> I'm at the point now where coffee shop squatting is just too much of a hassle and would rather pay to have a quiet working environment Pardon my ignorance, but why isn't "working from home" an option? I WFH myself (current $job is 100% remote) and I bounce between my super comfy couch and a standing desk all day. Bonus, I get to make my own coffee, eat whatever/whenever I want, and I never have to worry about the s…

Spoken like a single guy?

Re: Did you buy that latte 2 hours ago? Think about leaving the coffee shop

#79

Post by rwhitman »

There were campers in retail spaces even before laptops and mobile tech existed.

They weren't as common and were harder to spot but back when I worked in an independent bookstore pre-broadband era, there was always a subset of the customer base that would use the bookstore and it's cafe as their home.

Basically, if you've ever worked in retail you know that certain subtle signals give the hint to the majority of customers of your intentions without saying a word. Changing lighting for instance is huge.

However, there will always be a certain subgroup of people that have a sort mentality, based on maybe mammal instinct, that if you mark a small amount of territory in a public space, it belongs to you to and you can therefore use it in any way you like for however long you like until someone challenges you for the territory and wins. This type of person, when armed with a laptop and cell phone, becomes a particularly obnoxious problem when they're a coffee shop nomad. Moms with strollers often fall into the same category, but it's a social minefield raising the issue in public.

Anyhow this is why coffee shop owners, no matter how hard they try, will not be able to remove a small malignant group of knowledge working nomads without a daily fight. The rest of us get the owner's hints, but the "It's My Territory" people will always find a way to give the Average Joe Laptop Worker a bad name...

Re: Did you buy that latte 2 hours ago? Think about leaving the coffee shop

#80

Post by lwhalen »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #78
lwhalen wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm at the point now where coffee shop squatting is just too much of a hassle and would rather pay to have a quiet working environment Pardon my ignorance, but why isn't "working from home" an option? I WFH myself (current $job is 100% remote) and I bounce between my super comfy couch and a standing desk all day. Bonus, I get to make my own coffee, eat whatever/whenever I want, and I never have to worry about the s…

Spoken like a single guy?

Nope, my long-term, live-in girlfriend and I are about to celebrate our 5th anniversary. No kids though. That said, one of my (also works-from-home) coworkers just had his third kid; he has a similar philosophy and just maintains a home office.
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