coffee house etiquette

[nostatic]

OK...I need a reality check on whether this is rude or not. I am a regular at my local Peets...once, sometimes twice a day. I often will meet a buddy after work (around 5pm) and we'll have a cup and shoot the breeze for an hour or so. Sometimes I'll go on a weekday mid-afternoon to write, but usually stay no more than 2 hours, and it is never packed.

But in the mornings and late afternoons it is packed. The last few times I've met my buddy, we have not been able to find a place to sit. Why? Well, students doing homework, teachers grading papers, and the most egregious - two women who spent literally 6-8 hours a day holed up in the back, taking up two tables, both with computers as well as a portable printer (!).

I know that it is cool to have the "portable office", but this is getting ridiculous. On days where I've stopped in twice (once in the morning, once around 5pm) I've often seen the SAME PEOPLE there, camped out in the same spot.

So is this rude, or just the "new chic"? A coffee shop is not an office. I like getting away there every so often to write, but it isn't my primary residence...

[Moses]

If I sat down with my laptop and the place filled up, I would leave. A great local diner was bankrupted by the things you describe. It was a small place (6 tables) and only open for breakfast and lunch. At breakfast, the place was filled with contractors who only ordered coffee, but took an hour or so arranging the days crew assignments. I knew the owner and he tried to break up the contractor cartel gently but without success. Too bad, it was a great breakfast place.

[David McLaughlin]

I uesed to run a Starbucks Coffee in Harvard Square (Hahv'd Squa-uh) and had many people just camp out. It used to drive me nuts but I was told by upper management that I couldn't do anything about. There was this one Professor who would come in an hour before closing every night, open his laptop and just stay. Not only did he require a real cup, but wouldn't allow us to clean "his spot" until we were locked up and ready to leave.

Then there was this "tranny" with his... her... whatever... pet rat, but that's another story.

[HardDrive]

Wireless.

Ever since the coffee houses put in free wireless they have turned into campgrounds.

[Por_sha911]

I've always wanted to bring in a rather large boom-box and set it down next to the squatter and well, you get the idea.

[Seahawk]

Originally posted by nostatic
So is this rude, or just the "new chic"? A coffee shop is not an office. I like getting away there every so often to write, but it isn't my primary residence...

Tough call...they want to be there for the same reasons you do, because it is a neat place to be, too relax and enjoy.

However, I like HardDrives "campground" analogy. We all should have a sense of when it is time to vacate. Rude.

[cantdrv55]

I know where every Starbucks is in Northern CA and Northern NV plus every Fedex/Kinko's too. Why? T-Mobile Hotspot. Soon when internet cards for laptops provide reliable high speed connection from anywhere, I'll stop spending so much time at coffee houses when I travel. Right now, I can't help but take up a table for a couple of hours at a time. I've never been asked to leave so I take it it's OK with Starbucks.

[nostatic]

While there is a continuum for this issue, I think there are some clear "violators." The pair with the portable printer who are there for 6 hours at a pop - sorry, that's just wrong. I have never spent time at Peets working when the place was full...like Moses said, if I'm there writing and it fills up, I pack up and go.

Another peeve: people talking on cell phones in coffee houses. If my phone vibrates (don't some people know how to change from obnoxious ring to vibrate or silent?), I go outside to answer.

[COLDBASS]

They are creatures of habit just like you...

My advice is to simply find a new watering hole...coffee houses are just like liquor stores here in So Cal...just find another one nearby, who knows, different crowd, maybe you'll find some action for those lonely nights...

The other thing is, if you keep meeting the same "buddy" by now, folks probably think that you ..uh, well you know...

[Big Ed]

Originally posted by nostatic
Another peeve: people talking on cell phones in coffee houses. If my phone vibrates (don't some people know how to change from obnoxious ring to vibrate or silent?), I go outside to answer.

Or restaurants, even nice ones. I always get up and take the call outdoors, but I notice [almost] nobody else does. It's a brave new rude world.

[dd74]

Todd - remember Gorky's in Downtown L.A.? Now that was a camp!

Things have changed with the coffeehouse scene: it used to be if you were writing poetry (by hand), you were considered cool, and the women factor played very well in your favor.

Now, with the advent of chain coffeehouses, screenwriters come in with their laptops, shifting the paradigm; the only ones who come up to writers are other writers hoping both aren't working on the same idea.

As for "chic," well, if screenwriters are camped out there, it must be chic.

Last night at Starbucks, I saw a guy move a table against a window, pull out floor plans, a laptop, protractors and what-not, and proceed to design what appeared to be the next World Trade Center. Incidentally, he looked like he didn't care who cared.

[nostatic]

I like the boombox idea. I was talking with the manager of the local Peets and she isn't crazy about the work campers. I'll bet she'd let me do the experiment

[MFAFF]

No,

Its easy.. make sure you make friends with the guy behind the bar... its amazing what a persuasive barrista cna do...

It was a problem when I worked in a coffe shop in pre wireless days.. poetry was fine for the ladies.. but guys just hanging out.. unless they were expresso fiends they go a few unsubtle hints to move on...

We were runnig a busniess...needed the space and pace to make it happen..

[speeder]

Originally posted by cantdrv55
I know where every Starbucks is in Northern CA and Northern NV plus every Fedex/Kinko's too. Why? T-Mobile Hotspot. Soon when internet cards for laptops provide reliable high speed connection from anywhere, I'll stop spending so much time at coffee houses when I travel. Right now, I can't help but take up a table for a couple of hours at a time. I've never been asked to leave so I take it it's OK with Starbucks.

I also have T-mobile Hotspot service, but I rarely use it these days. My local SB is pretty writer-friendly, but it also has enough seating for the normal traffic 99% of the time. I thought that I would enjoy camping in the back and writing, but the reality doesn't add up, (for me). There is one guy who abuses the portable office deal, always squawking on his headset/cell phone, sitting there all day, etc...

Bottom line is that some people will always have manners and others won't, it's just that technology has given people new ways to be idiots and show the world what they're made of.

[Jay Auskin]

The coffee shop should create their own boombox atmosphere. When it's packed, crank up the music. Make it difficult to talk on cell phones and set up an "office". When it dies down, turn the volume down a bit. That should help with turnover. Of course if they're sharing walls with other businesses, it might not be the most popular answer.

[}{arlequin]

Originally posted by David McLaughlin
I uesed to run a Starbucks Coffee in Harvard Square (Hahv'd Squa-uh) and had many people just camp out. It used to drive me nuts but I was told by upper management that I couldn't do anything about. There was this one Professor who would come in an hour before closing every night, open his laptop and just stay. Not only did he require a real cup, but wouldn't allow us to clean "his spot" until we were locked up and ready to leave.

Then there was this "tranny" with his... her... whatever... pet rat, but that's another story.

if it's the one "upstairs" in The Garage, then i think it's b/c the seats are too comfy. i remember big puffy armchairs etc...

[bell]

the best way i found to "get rid" of people (make them leave) is to make them think you're crazy...
flailing arms and comments about snakes works great

[Moses]

If I owned the Starbucks, the T-mobile router would mysteriously go off-line when campers got on my nerves.

[cantdrv55]

I admit I'm a camper but I never ever use my cellphone indoors in those places. Too noisy, first of all, plus it's just rude and pretentious. Take your calls outside.

[id10t]

You need to show up as a fake AP for their laptops to connect to. Then use a transparent proxy and some re-write rules and DNS changes to control *all* the images they get via the internet

Or at least sniff thier cleartext passwords and be nice and change them for them...

And for the managers who want to discourage them - don't put power outlets where they can be used.