Really? Is that the contract: I sit down in a cafe and there is an unwritten time frame within which I am to enjoy my coffee? If so, isn't there some obligation to say so ... "sorry guys, no sitting here using your iPad or talking politics with a friend or simply people-watching?" If there is a time frame, how long would the customers keep coming?
It's not an easy nut: When I sit down, I agree to pay for what I buy. No one seems to have any problem taking my money. But when I lollygag or simply enjoy the populated to-and-fro, somehow I have become a table hog? If someone doesn't want me sitting at the table, there is an easy solution -- don't make the table available.
I'm back in Europe, I think. No flitty waiters pretending to give you additional service by taking an empty plate away when what they are really doing is pushing you along.
It is a tough nut, but I think the weight comes down on the business owner. Not every emporium needs to be McDonald's while masquerading as some touchy-feely 'cafe.'
Hard up for an interest topic this morning.
I like sushi, and it used to be more expensive. One day some years back, the first i'd seen and perhaps among the first to combat the expense of sushi, an all you can eat sushi and 'other asian' restaurant opened in Berkeley. I'd occasionally go in for lunch, read the paper, and stay for supper. They didn't seem to mind as it was cafeteria sized and hadn't drawn much business. But my leg was hollow and as the place got busier, they started giving me the stink eye. I tipped well enough to encourage enduring me, but, well, i'm a good citizen and so eventually gave the trough a break. lol
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