stories:
Table Manners
 |
Advice for Despised Laptop UsersHow to avoid dirty looks in coffeehouses |
Dear Helena,
I often work on my laptop in a coffeehouse. I usually stay for three or four hours, and buy one latte. I feel like the barista starts giving me dirty looks after a while, like I should buy more stuff, or vacate my table for paying customers. Is there some kind of unspoken contract that you can’t work on your laptop in a café without ordering something every few hours? —Gotta Get Out of the House
Dear Gotta Get Out of the House,
Laptop users often are not big spenders, says Megan Lyall∗, a barista at an independent coffeehouse in Hollywood. “They get one small coffee and stay for five hours and then don’t tip. ... Sometimes two people working together buy only one Diet Coke between them.”
Some coffeehouse owners are over it, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article. These businesses are limiting the hours when laptops may be used or shutting off the Wi-Fi during lunch. But laptop users are also repeat customers, the core of any business. Consequently, the coffeehouse owners I spoke to said that these customers are only a bother when they’re taking up tables needed for those who are buying food and drink. In that case, the owners may ask you to share a two-top, and they expect you to agree. Basquali (he has one name only, like Cher), owner of Smooch in Brooklyn, says: “People are fine with it. I usually ask my regulars. A couple of people have been offended and my attitude is … I don’t want you to ever come back to my café again.”
So if you notice the place is jammed and people are hunting for a table, it’s good etiquette to offer to pair up with another solo customer, before a staff member has to ask. As to how often you need to order something, the baristas and managers I spoke to said that buying a fresh drink every three hours or so is acceptable. However, “refills don’t count,” says Scott Walker, a barista at Coffee Bar in San Francisco, “because they only cost 50 cents.” As for feeling the need to subsidize the cost of the Wi-Fi itself, know that it isn’t actually that big of an expense, about $135 a month, Basquali says.
Then there is the question of ambiance. When Four Barrel Coffee opened last year in San Francisco, it didn’t offer outlets or Wi-Fi, going purposefully for a more old-fashioned atmosphere complete with a vintage hi-fi playing vinyl, animal heads on the walls, and a chandelier in the bathroom. If you’re slaving over a PowerPoint presentation in the corner, you are not creating a Rive Gauche–like ambiance. But not all café owners feel laptops hurt their vibe. Basquali says: “I have music playing all the time … it doesn’t feel like Kinko’s.”
So refresh your latte and share your table during peak hours. Otherwise, linger as long as you like, and buy something small every three hours. If the coffeehouse owner resents you working on your novel, he has an easy option: get rid of Wi-Fi. People can go for hours without food and drink, but no one can last long without an Internet connection.
∗Lyall asked that her real name and place of work not be used, for fear of alienating customers.
Ha.. Read this in a cafe on my laptop.
To add: good tippers get less dirty looks.
My general rule is that if there aren't any empty tables, mine better have food or beverage I paid for on it. I often and gladly offer to double up with another laptop person when things get busy, and there is the added benefit there that I feel more like I really ought to be getting work done, instead of checking Chowhound or the like.
It's not about laptops, it's about common sense and etiquette. The rules should be the same whether you are on a laptop, reading a book or newspaper, talking to a friend, or staring at the wall. Don't stay for hours: I think one hour per purchase is reasonable. If all the other tables are full, move on even sooner. If you plan to linger a while or be regular, tip extra well. Don't splay your stuff across multiple tables and put your feet up on chairs. Be friendly and don't treat the staff like tech support.
I'm a regular laptopper at various cafes and pubs around my home. I always buy food and/or drink, I tip well, and rarely stay much longer than an hour. My laptop battery can't take much more than that anyway. I never get dirty looks, in fact the staff are usually very friendly because they recognize me and know I won't hog a table for hours in a packed establishment. I'm a regular source of income and tips for them and I don't give them any hassles. Works for me.
Three hours in a coffeehouse and one purchase?? And using the free internet, too- three hours is bullshit- a minimum of one purchase an hour, I say, and a good tip too.
If it's too expensive for you, why not get an internet connection in your own dwelling and stop sponging off people who are trying to make a living with their coffeehouses? Suppose the situaton was reversed, and see how you feel about that kind of behavior.
It's thanks to the leaching unemployed and student laptoppers that the people who *really* keep these places in business - y'know, the ones who line up by the dozens during the morning, lunch and mid-afternoon work break rushes to grab their coffee TO GO - have to pay $2 to $5 per cup these days. A national chain should show some backbone and go wi-fi free; I'll bet it would actually improve their business.
I think the rules change with traffic:
*Busy time, people looking for tables--don't even pull the laptop/novel/journal out of the bag (unless you're waiting for your food to be prepared)
*Moderately busy--1 small purchase (drink) per hour or moderate purchase (sandwich or drink & dessert) every 90 min, make sure there's a table free by doubling up or packing up if it gets busy.
*So empty you're the only sign the place is open and the employee has pulled out a novel or is deep-cleaning--type away with abandon
As for spreading out--my rule is that there must be as many tables free as my son and I take up, and we can never take all the "good seats" no matter how many other places are free.
Local governments should make some sort of place where you can go and use free wifi, sit and do work, and even borrow books for a set period of time. If only someone would invent somewhere like that, then people could stop sitting in coffeehouses all day doing work.
I pray for that day to come gjd131.... but alas, it is still only a dream...
Good one, gjd131! Although there's still that niggling beverage/food snag.
Just this morning, DH & I went to our local coffee shop, which was packed to the gills at 8:30 a.m., no empty seats except at a large table for four that one woman was occupying by herself. She reluctantly agreed to let us share, although saying that she hoped we weren't going to talk a lot because she was studying. Sheesh. I just smiled sweetly and remarked that there were no other tables available. (We moved to a 2-person table anyhow when one opened up, even though we were just quietly reading the paper and not disturbing her.)
I agree with most of you that its just a matter of common civility. When the shop is crowded you get one place/seat per person and don't linger unless you're going to buy another drink/muffin/whatever. Again this is true whether you're chatting, reading or working on the laptop.
But the WiFi will soon be a thing of the past, as will be the issue with power. Batteries are getting longer lasting all the time and more people are either "tethering" with their smartphones or using built-in 3G to access the internet over the cellular network. So shutting down WiFi will only be a temporary solution.
I go to one particular coffee shop to use wifi. I generally buy coffee and sometimes a pastry or sandwich. There is no waitstaff, just counter service, but I make a point to tip large. I get no dirty looks. In fact, sometimes they say no charge for the coffee. Even more often they bring me something hot from the kitchen that was fresh baked 'on the house'.
If and when the shop gets too full, I wrap up my session and vacate. I do not want to overstay my welcome and ruin my good cheer with the staff.
The spot I occupy is one of the few with a power strip, and if I see a person with a laptop wandering around looking for a spot with power, I invite them to join me.
It is all about the courtsey.
Depends on the vibe of the coffee house, too and where you live. Of course such rules should generally apply at the super busy Starbucks in a large
city. But if you're somewhere that isn't just about the bucks, and there are plenty of such places, then I've found that the owners appreciate having folks around who will buy their latte but also contribute to a community feel.
So maybe you don't buy a big meal every time but you end up recommending it to friends and bringing folks 'cos it's a nice place to go. Because you like to have somewhere to work on your laptop that isn't just a soulless chain where they deign to let you mainline caffeine before letting you know they've got better things to do that worry about customer *relationships*.
Get to know people, be generally polite and a lot of owners will be more than happy to have you back regardless of the fact that you might not be their biggest spender. Personally, I reckon a friendly face is worth something, too.
Just try working on your laptop for three hours in a working class bar.
In response to gjd 131 and mattlnNJ- the government does have something like that, though it's not big on food...The public library.
This seems pretty simple:
If you are cruising for free on someone's wifi and using their business as your office, then spend generously in their shop and don't be precious about sharing tables, and your welcome won't evaporate.
If that sounds like a problem to you, you should be hanging out in a library or a backpackers.
New Mexico had free wifi at the rest areas, and I believe Vermont does too (although those are closed during the times one actually needs a rest area).
karen_shaffer -- I loved your story. One girl (studying) holding down a 4-top when the shop is packed? I think I would definitely join her, and sit down, pull out my cell phone and make several calls until I found someone else who could join me at that same table. In fact, I think i would find a need to make continuous outgoing cell phone calls until I either finishe my coffee, found a companion, or Ms. Studious figured out where the nearest LIBRARAY was. How BLEEPING rude!
phood - whooosh!
In fact, you can bring your coffee into the library (at mine, anyway) and work on your own laptop the whole day with no one giving you the evil eye.
Amazingly, I got through 8 years of higher education without ever once studying in a coffeehouse. Trying to study at the peak business hours sounds like a fiasco to me...noise, cell phone conversations, social visits from people you know. Are today's students unaware of libraries? It seems to me that this is part of the same "look-how-important-I-am" phenomenon that encourages people to talk nonstop on their cell phones.
This thread is idiotic. Perhaps I am biased since I live in a college town where all the coffee houses are always and forever covered over in students. But coffeehouses are not Taco Bell-- it isn't a dine and dash experience. Coffeehouses are meant to encourage people to linger over their work or conversations. That's the point of them. This article is right-- if people find that a coffee house is a good place to work, to read a novel, to have a long conversation, then they'll come back. People who need to get work done (students in particular) are loyal to places like that, and people who have had good experiences at places are likely to return. Additionally, most coffee houses I know of get plenty of to-go business and drive-through business that more than make up for the people who take up room for 3 hours. Many of those to-go orderers are people who at one point did take up a table for 3 hrs., who now consider themselves a "regular" at an establishment, and will go out of their way to stop by there next time they need a quick cup. Honestly, CHOW readers are so totally dumb about supply and demand that it is frightening. Coffeehouses, more than other places, rely on good community energy and reputation to make their money. Believe me, I'll still go to Taco Bell if I get the stink eye from an employee....but a coffee shop? Heck no I am not spending over 4 dollars on a latte to get the same stink eye from one of their baristas. The only thing that makes me annoyed is when a kid is taking up a large table with their books and etc. But coffeehouses need to structure their seating so as to take advantage of space. Kills me when you go into a coffee house and their space is organized so haphazardly.
As for the people who are talking about the libraries....
1. Public libraries often close early. And have you been to your public library recently? Its a grim place I'll promise you.
2. What is so terrible about people wanting to do their work in a more upscale environment than a public library? Should you have to eat all your meals at your kid's high school lunch room? This sort of class-based argument is very odd here at CHOW, where people will go out of their way to justify their unnecessary food expenses. Plus it ignores basic economics: coffeehouses wouldn't succeed without studyers/workers and so they'd shut down if they didn't have that business, and the public library can't handle a large mass of consumers. There's that funny thing, supply and demand, working again. As for University libraries, you are correct-- they stay open late and they can handle the mass of students. But the thing is, now they're starting to put in snack bars and are giving the local coffee house some competition that they probably can't muster. So better watch what you wish for I say!
3. Exactly what is the market for the American coffee house if not people studying or doing work? Teenyboppers and stay-at-home-mothers? Those are the only other people that a coffee house could possibly cater to. Not that I have a problem with those groups, but at least studyers are quiet.
"Exactly what is the market for the American coffee house if not people studying or doing work? Teenyboppers and stay-at-home-mothers?"
cpilgirm84: One of many, many things you'll figure this out when you are paying taxes, son.
Lots of thoughtful comments, along with a couple of clueless ones. If I was appreciating the coffee house experience, I'd send a complimentary Tweet and leave a nice comment on their Facebook page.
Shattered, as the single income (female, so not "son") earner in my family I am not sure what you're talking about here. Are you implying that the American worker (of which I am one, salaried workerbee) spends the majority of his working hours at a coffee shop? No one in my office could make that claim. Or are you telling me that you do you do your taxes at the coffee shop? How could you possibly focus in that environment?
My local library is not a spa and it does close early - but "grim?" I don't think so. AS for the local coffee house experience, it's fine - they charge for the use of electricity and for wifi. A reasonable and sane solution. Why don't more shops try this?
I love going to places where they've fetishized coffee into The One True Religion. None of them offer wifi, and it's fun to see the little smirks and nudges among the workers as I open up my laptop. It's even more fun to watch those looks of utter disappointment when I whip out my wireless card and connect. And yes, I do buy at least one drink every hour when I'm there (these places do have damn good coffee, even if they are a little sanctimonious about it).