Please Remove Your Laptop From The Coffee Shop

I headed into a coffee/sandwich shop for an early lunch. The place was busy, with all 25-ish tables occupied. Those in line looked for a space to sit once our order was ready.

A few tables were filled with people eating, drinking, and socializing. But many others had one person sitting there, intensely focused on their laptop.

I managed to find a high stool to perch on. As I ate, I watched. The laptop people had a single coffee in front of them that they sipped sporadically. While I don’t know how long they’d been there, their focus on whatever they were working on suggested it had been a while. One had papers spread all over the table. Another guy was taking a Zoom call in headphones.

I wouldn’t write about this incident if it were the first time it had happened. But I can think of three similar occasions in the last year—all at different coffee shops in various parts of the city.

That’s pretty remarkable, considering I don’t even drink joe, so I’m rarely in coffee shops.

I walked into a high-end coffee shop for a meeting a few months ago. It has only six tables, and they’re set up in a line. That made it easy for me to spot that one person and one laptop occupied each table. No one was talking; everyone was working. No one looked like they were going anywhere anytime soon.

I’ve been working from home for nine years, so I know how hard it can be. The drive to leave the house is vital. Remote work can be very convenient but can also be isolating and leave us uninspired.

Because of this, I work one day per week at a co-working space. I love it there — it’s cosy, the employees are great, and the top floor has a massive skylight providing an inspirational view.

But I most appreciate the co-working space because I’m in a different space for one day per week. The novelty is refreshing. I love coming home and being truly glad to be back there.

We all need “third spaces,” spaces that aren’t home or work. This is why we appreciate gyms, malls, and, yes, coffee shops.

If you’re a nomad, a freelancer, or a remote employee, you don’t even have that second space, so you spend a lot of time in that first space.

Additionally, some people feel more motivated and inspired in a coffee shop. Research suggests that coffee shop noises stimulate creativity. There must be something to it since YouTube offers numerous videos of coffee shop noises to play while working from home. This one has a million and a half “views.”

So yes, coffee shops can be a great place to work. But not when you’re impeding people from doing the things coffee shops are intended for.

Occasionally, I can be petty, so I sat and watched the remote workers while I ate my lunch. They didn’t look up at their surroundings. They were parked at their far more comfortable tables, blissfully unaware of anything but their work, having no idea that others might put that table to better use.

Meanwhile, people with fresh coffee looked around for a place to sit.

The few times I’ve had my laptop at a coffee shop, I’ve done a scan every few minutes to ensure newcomers had tables. When there were no more empty tables, I gave mine up.

The price of a coffee doesn’t buy you a table for as long as you want it. Coffee shops have a high turnover. If your coffee has gotten cold, it’s time to go.

In an era of self-focus, where we are self-employed and working towards our own goals, we can’t forget community values. Where it was once considered common courtesy to release a table if you’re no longer using it, now many have more of a “Too bad, I was here first” mentality.

Having no office doesn’t make it someone’s right to take up a table indefinitely for something that has nothing to do with drinking coffee. Coffee shops are a space for community; they were never meant to replace an office. Those who need a free place to park their laptop for a few hours can check out a local library.