AFTER watching a movie at the The Cathay Cineplex recently, my
family and I wanted to grab a quick coffee at Starbucks.
However, the tables were occupied by teenagers with open
laptops, chatting away loudly; some had their feet settled on the
sofas and had literally 'dug in' for long sessions of free
surfing.
After I had waited for about 10 minutes, I asked the manager if
she could request a few teenagers to make way for other
customers.
Her reply was that she could not because they had all bought a
beverage from Starbucks.
It was a strange reply to me as I do not think that buying a
single drink entitles a customer to park himself at an outlet for
hours and deprive others of a seat.
Civility requires some form of civic consideration.
Eventually, we found a seat but the tables were strewn with the
mess that came with schoolwork.
Food and beverage outlets like Starbucks should stop this
system, where a customer need buy only one drink and he can stay as
long as he likes, and adopt a policy that is reasonable and shows
consideration to all customers.
Perhaps limit free wi-fi to half an hour of surfing by issuing a
time-limit coupon when customers buy drinks. Or install a sign
stating that those studying or hogging tables should show
consideration to other customers.
Such behaviour also suggests an innate lack of graciousness,
which as a society we should try to change.
Virdi Bhupinder
tl;dr: starbucks should have seats when i need them. or they
should chase away existing customers to make room for me
