Navigation

Article posted Wednesday, May 8, 2013 12:34pm

Dear Mary Pat,

Recently three of my friends and I visited a small sandwich shop with limited seating. We ordered our food and found only two little tables with two chairs each, quite a distance apart, to enjoy our food. Meanwhile, there was a young woman with a laptop and backpack sprawled across a large table with four chairs. She had a single cup of tea and clearly saw us struggling to situate ourselves. We wanted to enjoy one another’s company.

I thought it was rude that she did not offer to trade places with us. Or am I rude for thinking she was selfish to take up such a large space in such a small place?

Signed,

Make Room at the Table

Sister Bay, WI

Dear Make Room at the Table,

Yes, I do think that this woman was being rude, or at the very least, oblivious. How much effort would it have taken her to move to a smaller table? Why didn’t she start there in the first place?

These days it is common for people to consider some restaurants and coffee shops their mobile office spots. That, however, does not mean that one can sprawl out like he or she would at home on the kitchen table.

The same reason a hostess at a restaurant would never sit a single person at a six-top table is the same reason that this woman shouldn’t have taken a large table by herself.

There’s a fine line between lingering…and loitering.

Good luck,

Mary Pat