No E-Books Allowed in This Establishment

[patrickt]

I know people who will set up in a coffee shop or restaurant for a day of reading. They will buy coffee occasionally and enjoy reading their books. Lunch time, people pour him, they'll sit there oblivious at a table for four while people are waiting to be seated. No, I don't mind if the management tells them to take a hike.

For me, it would be more reasonable to say no computers, books, etc. between 11-3 and 5-7:30 or whatever times are appropriate for their business. I don't know if their attorneys would allow that, though.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

Subvert away. In such a case, I just vote with my money. If business owners wanna risk their business, that's their choice.

That's fine where money is a factor. But sometimes it's not. Take smoking bans. They are Dope Rules. You can't take your money elsewhere. The government's in your way.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by Harmon

That's fine where money is a factor. But sometimes it's not. Take smoking bans. They are Dope Rules. You can't take your money elsewhere. The government's in your way.

I try not to lump together disparate things. Government stripping us of civil rights, for instance, is distinctly different from a business acting on its own judgment and risking its own future. As long as it follows laws, I don't care to subvert.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Smoking bans are doperules how?

[mike_bike_kite]

Originally Posted by Harmon

Take smoking bans. They are Dope Rules.

I now assume by dope rules this means any rules that you personally disagree with. I quite like being able to go out for a drink or a meal and not have be forced to put up with others bad habits. I don't honestly care whether they live shorter lives just as long as I don't have to contribute towards their health care.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mike_bike_kite

I now assume by dope rules this means any rules that you personally disagree with. I quite like being able to go out for a drink or a meal and not have be forced to put up with others bad habits. I don't honestly care whether they live shorter lives just as long as I don't have to contribute towards their health care.

Hear hear. I have no objection whatsoever to someone sitting alongside me in a restaurant injecting themselves with heroin - that's their personal choice, and doesn't affect me. But if they smoke that DOES affect me, and I don't like it at all.

I never used to go into pubs here in Britain because they were full of smoke, and within a minute of going in, my eyes would be watering, and my throat sore. Now they are smoke free they are much more pleasant places.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Hear hear. I have no objection whatsoever to someone sitting alongside me in a restaurant injecting themselves with heroin - that's their personal choice, and doesn't affect me. But if they smoke that DOES affect me, and I don't like it at all.

I might mind the heroin if an overdose tied up my waiter, lol. I agree about smoking -- your personal liberties end where they infringe on others'.

[solitarywolf]

This article reminds me back in 2000-01 there was a ban on reading the free newspapers in coffee shops in Seattle, Washington.

Possibly they will give into the pressures of no one being there. If it is because someone is sitting there surfing/reading long after they have finished their coffee and muffin then perhaps it is time to allow someone else to sit there to allow them to enjoy their drink and meal. These places are in the business of selling. Loitering in an establishment does not pay the bills and rent. However, they should be up front with this and tell you to either buy more or move along. Perhaps set a sign out that says, 30 minutes parking limit?

Seth Williams,
San Francisco, CA

[Over]

I would suggest ejectable seats. The table could include an electronic display, with a time count down: "XXX seconds for ejection". The last 60 seconds could have a sound alarm, so that more distracted custumers had the time to get out or maybe insrt a few coins for a few more minutes.

Just like we don't like to be treated as potential criminals when publishers put DRM on their ebooks, I don't like to be labeled as potential table hogger just because I pull out a Kindle while eating my lunch.

I know civilty and courtesy are rarer these days, but there should be another solution than just "no computers". Maybe the waitress could gently ask if they have anything else to order, and if not, ask gently to liberate the table for other customers.

[CyGuy]

If they ban computers at that table during that time-frame, I would sit down with an abacus and see how many digits of pi I could get to in that 3-hour window

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by CyGuy

If they ban computers at that table during that time-frame, I would sit down with an abacus and see how many digits of pi I could get to in that 3-hour window

carry one with you often do you?

[CyGuy]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

carry one with you often do you?

You mean to imply that everyone doesn't?

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by CyGuy

You mean to imply that everyone doesn't?

*snort*!!! but in all fairness it needs to be big and intrusive!

[CyGuy]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

*snort*!!! but in all fairness it needs to be big and intrusive!

Yes, I stand corrected.

[suecsi]

Originally Posted by hrickh

True story: I was at a Caribou Coffee in Chicago. This girl comes in with her messenger bag, pulls out her laptop, her iPod and her phone and turns them all on and starts to get busy with whatever it was she was going to do.

Then she pulls out a bottle of iced tea, a sandwich and some chips - all not purchased from there.

I actually got up, went over to her table and said "Seriously? Don't be such a leech - buy something!" She told me to f*ck off. Since she wasn't so quiet about it (and other people around had heard me tell her to buy something too), others basically told her the same. She ended up leaving, rather than simply spending a buck on a cup of coffee.

If you spend any amount of time in coffee shops, you'll see people taking advantage of the shop's services.

R.
==

A lot of cafes in London have signs up saying the seating is only for patrons who have boght items from the place that owns the seats (can't remember the wording, but that is the jist of it).