Quote:
Originally Posted by graycyn
I'm sure that's exactly it. Still, it would keep me from going back there. I just don't see how it is any different from sitting and reading a paper book. Heaven knows, I can do that for hours just as easily. I would understand it more if the sign said no computers, no book reading.
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I suspect the difference is that the book readers are probably not hogging tables at rush times. Not many people can get away with leaving the office for hours at a time to read a book. Given the time required to get to the coffee shop and back (plus some extra for that wanker who does not take "talk to me after I'm back" for an answer), time standing in line, etc., a person with a half-hour break might occupy a table for perhaps 15 minutes. However, if someone is on his laptop, he may be able to claim that he's officially working and not have to be physically present at the office for quite some time. Hours would not be unlikely. A coffee shop is in the business of selling coffee, not providing free facilities for telecommuting, and it only takes a few selfish jerks, especially if they're in the habit of occupying prime real estate (note that the sign said "this table", implying that there were also unrestricted tables, perhaps near the back where they wouldn't give the impression that the place was full), to ruin it for everyone.
And that's really the bottom line. The shop allowed people to do things other than buying and consuming their products -- and still does, other than for a few hours at certain tables -- with the implicit understanding between them and their customers that polite people would not hog tables when it was busy. Unfortunately, some people were not polite, and operated under the rule that the right thing to do was anything that nobody forcibly stopped them from doing, and the business owners did what they had to do to keep from having their business ruined by the table hogs. It's unfortunate that a Kindle owner got caught up in this, but the real blame has to be placed squarely on the shoulders of the people who chose to violate the rules of civility. It's the reason a store I shop at doesn't give out free popcorn anymore: people were taking armloads of bags of it out to their cars. It seems that the entire concept of politeness, civility, sharing, and not being a total ass, is long gone. Rules and laws are stepping in, out of necessity, where etiquette stepped out. And we all lose.