The Civilized Café

OnMilwaukee.com recently published an article entitled "How long is too long? Local cafes have unwritten rules."Penned by staff writer Molly Snyder Edler, the piece addresses theissue of patrons camping out in coffeehouses. Though this is anextremely old debate, going as far back as the very birth ofrestaurants and cafés--so, what would that be... something like the15th century?--it's worth bringing to the forefront again as the use oflaptops and subsequent expectation of access to Wi-Fi become morecommonplace.

All of the local coffee business representatives cited in the article generally agree that it's best to place the responsibility ofknowing when to leave on the patrons themselves. I agree, and not justbecause I believe that the majority of people are, whether through goodmanners or a healthy barometer of guilt, polite enough to realize whentheir time is up, but also because it takes the burden of policingcustomers off café staff.

Frankly, baristas and other staff have got more important things to do and shouldn't be forced to have to focus on those who take advantage of the café's hospitality, nor should they feel compelled to approachthe few abusers, which could possibly lead to a confrontation. In fact,I believe that it's unconscionable for any owner or manager to expecttheir staff to take on this duty--that's not what they were hired to do.


Continue reading on the Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee web site.
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