They think it's their private office
This is funny, if you haven't witnessed it, you should stop in and watch.
There's an interesting phenomena that I see at The Bookstore and it may happen at Starbucks and other areas that have cafes where people can hang out. There's a select few who think they own the place. You've seen them, they set up shop and spend the day.
They use the free wifi, enjoy the air conditioning, electricity, bathroom, tables, chairs and atmosphere, they usually don't spend a dime and if they do, they get a cup of coffee, usually one cup of coffee in all those hours. And as I said, they think they own the place and that it is their own personal office or living room.
They give dirty looks and huff and puff at those of us who are talking nearby. Those of us who actually buy food and drinks and are visiting with friends are looked down upon as if we are intruders on the personal space of these leaches. Only it is not their personal space. It's a public space. It's not a library and The Bookstore and Starbucks encourage people to hang out and interact.
I have seen one delicate little guy at The Bookstore every time I am there. I have watched him storm out and back more than once in an hour. He literally has pulled his computer plug from the wall very forcefully and loudly, as to make a statement and he has huffed and puffed to another chair or table to get away from people talking. He has done this three times in an hour, I have witnessed this.
A Bookstore employee told me this: There was a guy there, who sat and worked on his computer for hours, maybe four hours. He left. He left his coffee cup behind. Starbucks -- in The Bookstore. So one of the employees cleaned the table off and threw the Starbucks cup out. A half hour later, the customer came back looking for his Starbucks cup. He was told that they cleaned the table up and threw the cup out. He demanded a refill on the house. He was promptly thrown out.
There are a handful of people that do this. They make those of us who are paying customers feel very uncomfortable. They give us dirty looks, make tsk sounds and just make it very unpleasant for many paying customers. It's funny in a way, but really not when you think about it.
There's an interesting phenomena that I see at The Bookstore and it may happen at Starbucks and other areas that have cafes where people can hang out. There's a select few who think they own the place. You've seen them, they set up shop and spend the day.
They use the free wifi, enjoy the air conditioning, electricity, bathroom, tables, chairs and atmosphere, they usually don't spend a dime and if they do, they get a cup of coffee, usually one cup of coffee in all those hours. And as I said, they think they own the place and that it is their own personal office or living room.
They give dirty looks and huff and puff at those of us who are talking nearby. Those of us who actually buy food and drinks and are visiting with friends are looked down upon as if we are intruders on the personal space of these leaches. Only it is not their personal space. It's a public space. It's not a library and The Bookstore and Starbucks encourage people to hang out and interact.
I have seen one delicate little guy at The Bookstore every time I am there. I have watched him storm out and back more than once in an hour. He literally has pulled his computer plug from the wall very forcefully and loudly, as to make a statement and he has huffed and puffed to another chair or table to get away from people talking. He has done this three times in an hour, I have witnessed this.
A Bookstore employee told me this: There was a guy there, who sat and worked on his computer for hours, maybe four hours. He left. He left his coffee cup behind. Starbucks -- in The Bookstore. So one of the employees cleaned the table off and threw the Starbucks cup out. A half hour later, the customer came back looking for his Starbucks cup. He was told that they cleaned the table up and threw the cup out. He demanded a refill on the house. He was promptly thrown out.
There are a handful of people that do this. They make those of us who are paying customers feel very uncomfortable. They give us dirty looks, make tsk sounds and just make it very unpleasant for many paying customers. It's funny in a way, but really not when you think about it.
posted by Tom Falco at 6:00 AM
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7 Comments:
Those people need to get a job and learn. This is not an entitlement program for you to have free air, free wifi, free electricity, free use of all the ammenities of the location and then complain to us that actuually pay and support the busnisess that provideds all these benefits.
There's people who set up shop there bright and early before the store even opens. If I were them, I'd set their wireless network on a schedule so it turns off between certain hours of the day to cut down on freeloaders. There's even ways to set session limits for devices to prevent exactly what you described. Panera does this to prevent people from camping out all day.
Place some of the blame on the Bookstore. Sure, these people are in the wrong, but it seems like the Bookstore inadvertently invites this kind of behavior through their business practices. The only people who can change their habits is the private business owners.
I have mixed feelings about this. Yes, it is not civil to abuse the hangout privilege The Bookstore grants. However, the truth is that a couple of hanger outers actually makes the place look busy, and likely helps them to attract customers. If more people were there doing business it would not make such a great free office.
Absent more local support, one has to assume this business will not be there forever. Why not (more constructively) campaign for locals to do more business there?
Full disclosure: I'm not a supporter, nor do I feel a desire to be. Amazon and Starbucks works fine for me. I like having this business in the Grove, but not so much as to inconvenience myself my shopping there.
I love seeing all the people there. This is about a handful who give dirty looks, tsk tsk those of us who are talking and basically make us feel uncomfortable for coughing.
It's not about people using the wifi and hanging out, more power to them, I love that. I love when I enter on weekend mornings and see a full Bookstore, it's a great feeling.
I don't love the few who make it as if we are intruding on their private office.
Many Grovites seem to feel entitled to the fruits of other people's hard work and investments. These anecdotes aren't that surprising.
Those of us who actually buy stuff at Starbucks are in a way paying for these people to come and mooch electricity, AC, wifi, etc. next time they raise their prices, I will definitely complain.
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