ENTITLEMENT PROBLEMS: MAN INCENSED OVER STARBUCKS DISCRIMINATION

[Triple Zero]

He should research a really much more "living room" kind of place near where he lives that's mom-n-pop that tends to ACTUALLY cater to the kind of schtick he thinks he's engaging in.  Instead of expecting corporations to fucking give a shit about his "experience" as a consumer.

True. I'd probably have bought another coffee, felt upset about the whole episode and then do just that

It's just, I can imagine the disappointment, he thought he found such a place. but yeah you need to be wary of corps.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Ok, having read the article, I do think they could have been nicer to him. However his blog reaction is WAY over the top

If he was a regular and they knew him, they could have cut him some slack IMO. He said he usually buys more there, after all.

Mostly because it's a Star Bucks, of all things. I can imagine if it's next to your apartment, it's nice to have a second living room like that.

I can imagine it's a crappy experience, personally I'd have bought another coffee, the time he was there is just on the edge of where I think they could have kicked him out, I'd be a bit upset about such a scene too, but I wouldn't have written a blog about it like that

Odds are good that they didn't cut him slack because he's a regular and they know him and he has become a problem.

[Phox]

Ok, having read the article, I do think they could have been nicer to him. However his blog reaction is WAY over the top

If he was a regular and they knew him, they could have cut him some slack IMO. He said he usually buys more there, after all.

Mostly because it's a Star Bucks, of all things. I can imagine if it's next to your apartment, it's nice to have a second living room like that.

I can imagine it's a crappy experience, personally I'd have bought another coffee, the time he was there is just on the edge of where I think they could have kicked him out, I'd be a bit upset about such a scene too, but I wouldn't have written a blog about it like that

Odds are good that they didn't cut him slack because he's a regular and they know him and he has become a problem.

Yeah. If he comes in two or three days a week and sits for 4 or 5 hours without buying anything and then decides he wants another coffee, and stays another 4 hours, then, well, it seems like he's pushing it a little to me...

[Jenne]

It's sad because neighborhood coffee shops used to BE that way, back in the day--like bars but with caffeine peddled along with greasy food...you'd come, shoot the shit at the cranky fry cook and the saucy, overworked and underpaid waitresses...sling back a few cups of coffee, yakking it up with the regulars or just reading the morning paper in a leisurely fashion.  Coffee houses were artsy living room places where you'd sit on a couch and muse for hours about the color of navel lint and how hateful life had become since they dropped the H Bomb.

And then STARBUCKS came along, professing to be the one-stop-shop, etc., for all things caffeineted...including your meetings, your downtime and your social hour.

Fuck this guy for believing the hype (he used to work for them, for chrissakes, he knew the drill), and fuck this guy for blogging yet another example as to why our culture sucks in many, MANY ways.

[Cain]

I bet I could sit in my local coffee shop for hours without buying anything.  Hell, they refuse to let me pay for anything there.  But that's because I'm Special and JJ is not.

[Kai]

Headline: LIBERTARIAN THROWN OUT OF STARBUCKS FOR LOITERING EXPLODES NATIONAL IRONY METER.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I worked in a local coffee shop 20 years ago and it was never anything but "holy shit that guy is creepy as fuck" when someone was there by themselves for more than about two hours without buying anything beyond their initial purchase. People have always brought books and studied, and people meet their friends and hang out talking, but occupying a table or couch for hours, and not buying anything more, has not ever, in my experience, really been considered anything but weird/rude.

I know lots of people who go to cafes to work, and that's usually a mutually beneficial arrangement; they get free wifi and a place to park their ass, and the cafe gets their business. My ex used to spend all day in a cafe, coding. But he also bought something no less than every two hours... that's just the etiquette. Mr. Language often works at the cafe near his house, and also buys something every couple of hours. It's just how people do it. You don't expect use of the space unless you're engaging in the activity the space is meant for... consuming the store's products.

So no, I don't think this guy was being a total raging freak for hanging out in a coffeeshop. I do, however, think that he breached the bounds of common courtesy, and that his reaction to being asked to buy something or GTFO is completely spoiled and absurd.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Headline: LIBERTARIAN THROWN OUT OF STARBUCKS FOR LOITERING EXPLODES NATIONAL IRONY METER.

[Jenne]

I have to agree.  I mean, I've been known to go to Panera for lunch (a treat for myself to get the fuck out of the house) and bring the laptop with me when I have shit to do.  But when I'm done eating or drinking, I LEAVE.  Time's up.  Where he gets off thinking it's not still a business that's being operated, I just have no clue...regardless of how corporate-big-boy Starbucks is in wanna-be-small-time-clothing...he still was an ass in his own regard.

[Juana]

Trip, speaking as a former barista, THANK YOU for that tip. For some people, that money is what lets them fucking eat for the week.

[Jasper]

Sometimes I like taking care of my schoolwork in a coffee-shop around crowds of busy people.  I focus better when I'm surrounded by busy people.

But when I do that, I have the consideration to keep a drink on me at all times.  Sure, sometimes I'll nurse a cup of coffee for a half an hour or more, but when it's gone I buy another.  If I can't afford it, or if I've had enough coffee, I go to a park or a library to sit and work.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Sometimes I like taking care of my schoolwork in a coffee-shop around crowds of busy people.  I focus better when I'm surrounded by busy people.

But when I do that, I have the consideration to keep a drink on me at all times.  Sure, sometimes I'll nurse a cup of coffee for a half an hour or more, but when it's gone I buy another.  If I can't afford it, or if I've had enough coffee, I go to a park or a library to sit and work.

Yes... given that that's what libraries are for, it makes perfect sense to spend hours in a library. I think people get confused about that.

Even bookstores are better places to park for hours and do stuff... and when I worked in a bookstore, the cafe would chase people out when they wanted to camp out for hours with books. That's what the couches in the bookstore were for, and the tables in the cafe were for people with food and drink.

[Jasper]

Lots of libraries I've been to have a really wrong vibe for academic work though.  The weak attempts at modernity at the grievous expense of comfort and shelf-space, the lack of old book smell, and the quiet desperation...  It can be hard to find a library that has a good library feel to it.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Lots of libraries I've been to have a really wrong vibe for academic work though.  The weak attempts at modernity at the grievous expense of comfort and shelf-space, the lack of old book smell, and the quiet desperation...  It can be hard to find a library that has a good library feel to it.

Yeah, but if you're looking for a place with a roof where you can hang out for hours on end for free, they can't be beat.

[Jasper]

True!  I'd love to find a late night library that had a bar.


...I should open a late night library with a bar.