My Top 10 Coffee Shop Woes

My day off began with snoozing the alarm and sleeping too late. Great… half the day gone, but it’s a beautiful crisp autumn day with a hint of sun. I decided to go to the coffee shop, which I planned the night before.

I was excited to get dressed… in real clothes and not scrubs like I seem to live in these days.

I work on my feet so I chose the lazy way and drove to a cafe, I usually try to walk, but not today. Of course, I had to GPS everything and ended up at the ‘wrong’ Starbucks, but I figured I’d give it a try.

I ordered my triple espresso over ice, sat down at a long counter with many empty high bar seats available, set up my workstation and continued.

Not within 5 minutes, someone sits one seat away from me, in a practically empty shop. Why??

Then perhaps 10 minutes in, a woman sits on the other side of me and is shouting into her phone, and it’s a lengthy conversation showing no signs of ending. Why???

If coffee shops had closets with windows… I’d probably choose that seat.

I’m not the most approachable person on my days off, like most of us, I need to zone out and just do me.

My coffee shop pet peeves

Sitting directly in front of me — facing me, ugh… I’m an introvert, go away.
Sitting too close to me when there’s ample seating available, this holds true on public transit. We live in Vancouver… we’re a cold group, read the room ; )
Sitting next to me and speaking (yelling) into your phone. This should be self-explanatory.
Zero electrical outlets, now I understand this one, they don’t want you loitering on your laptop here, and that’s fair, but annoying just the same.
People who spend hours at the table nursing one drink, at least dig deep into your pockets and order another drink to warrant your stay. After all, we want to keep our favourite cafes in business!
Rudeness!!! People who are rude to customer service workers are the worst type of person. If I hear someone being rude, I’ll probably call them out on it. I’ve done it before… I’ll do it again. Especially my favourite baristas who are just plain nice and kind. They’re playing with fire then…
Being in too much of a rush and in error taking my drink, or touching my drink, or breathing over my drink… you get the idea!
Bringing their own tea, ordering hot water, and then using a table for hours is just cringe.
Not cleaning up after oneself, not sure why people do this, why should the next person clear their mess?
Coffee shops without music.

Bonus — Listening to your phone loudly without earbuds — This is happening right now, buddy…turn it down! I wish I could ethically record and post this.

I guess it’s time to call it a day…

Thanks for reading The Lifestyle Cafe!

Do you have any coffee shop pet peeves? Please share in the comments!

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This post was previously published on The Lifestyle Cafe.

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