Coffee Shop Etiquette (or How Not to Be "That Guy")

Some folks do their best work in coffee shops. They really churn and burn when they can inhale caffeine fumes, eavesdrop on other peoples’ conversations, and not have to fend off kitty luvin. If you’re one of those folks, HuffPo published some simple coffee house etiquette rules you need to observe, lest the power supply to your outlet suddenly get mysteriously cut off.

Take up the smallest space possible. I see people unnecessarily using two tables when they really could condense down into one and scoot that second table over so that it could be used by someone else. I know being near an outlet is Mission Critical, but if you have a laptop, a beverage, and a snack, you can work that with only one regulation-sized coffee shop table.

Spend money. One cup of coffee is my ticket to work for maybe an hour, and I kind of feel like that’s pushing it a little. (Yes, even if it’s fancy.) Coffee shops are affected by turnover, too; if, for example, you are not going to the cafe to work, and you know that it will be full of people not getting up from their work and there will not be a seat, you will probably choose a different shop. That coffee shop just lost business due to low turnover of tables. When I’m working, I try to buy things at least once an hour to justify my time there. If I’m getting refills, I add snacks or switch up my drink.

Tip well. Even if I’m spending money periodically, I’m still probably not spending as much as the table could earn were it open to many people, or groups of people, who might sit for just fifteen or twenty minutes (unless your cafe of choice is just totally dead). Tipping well keeps the baristas from giving me the side-eye.

I also take the baristas treats sometimes. I’ve taken cookies and soup (uh, not at the same time) to the baristas at my “office.”

Be cognizant of rush hour. High volume times = more seats needed and more opportunities for table turnover. I don’t like going during rush hour anyway because it’s harder to find an outlet seat. Or any seat. I try to target off-peak times for maximum consideration.