Reply to Starbucks to require purchases to hang out in stores

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There is an etiquette to working in a coffee shop. Some people follow it and others don't. Those of you complaining are complaining about the people who don't follow the etiquette. Those of us who sometimes work in coffee shops are also annoyed by those people. But working in coffee shops is normal and yes the shops often encourage it. My Starbucks has comfortable padded seating and each table has its own charging station so you can plug in a laptop and cell phone at the same time. Plus the free wifi and the deals they offer me on the app at various times of day are inducements to work there.

Anyway, this is what I consider to be proper etiquette for working at a coffee shop, Starbucks or otherwise:

- Don't go during peak traffic hours. No one should be camping out on their laptop at like 8am when there is a line out the door and they are churning out 20 drinks a minute. If you are going to work, go during off-peak hours like mid-morning, early afternoon, or the evening after commutes.

- Don't go for 6 hours. That's too long. I think my absolute max is 3 hours, and that would be unusual (and I would only do it if the place were fairly empty). I generally go for like 90-120 minutes.

- Obviously, order something. Most places actually do require this -- Starbucks was an outlier for a while but this is standard. I generally order at least one drink for each hour I'm there, or I'll order a very large drink. I usually also order food simply because I get hungry. It's rare that I go work in a coffee shop and don't spend $10-20.

- No video meetings or conference calls. This is the one I see a lot and annoys me. No one should have to listen to you update your boss on your project progress during your weekly Teams call. You should do that in private. I personally think in person meetings are fine if it's just two people. This is functionally not very different from like meeting someone you met an an industry event at a coffee shop to network, and most people think that's fine too. But the conference and video calls are very obnoxious, especially when people don't wear headphones.

I think if people follow these guidelines, working at coffee shops is perfectly reasonable and likely helps these businesses fill tables during slower times of day and justify longer hours, which I think is good. [/quote]

I’ll add - you should opt for the seating designed for solo patrons like a counter. Don’t take up a 4-top. If you do, then don’t look annoyed when I sit down across from you with my kid when there are no other seats. [/quote]

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