It’s been cold lately, and starting a new term at school means that I’ve spent more time then I’d like waiting in the cold due to lack of public, heated space around. There are resturants around, sure, but being a college student, I can’t afford to buy food out on a regular basis and I feel guilty about going into a resurant to get warm without actually purchasing anything.
Am I right to feel guitly? Is there anything ethically wrong with entering a private business(notably a resteraunt/bar, where I can sit down and purhaps read a bit while waiting) to temporary seek shelter from the cold without purchasing something?
If you’re being quiet, not making a mess and not taking up space that would be used by a paying customer (i.e. it’s there are empty seats available), I don’t see a problem.
I don’t think there’s anything unethical about it per se, but you do have to respect the restaurant’s right to ask you to leave if you aren’t a paying customer.
Are you sure you’ve exhausted possible public places to sit? Libraries on campus? Student unions? Even churches in the area?
The restaurant in question is paying for heating and the costs of making its customers comfortable. You are not a customer. Therefore, you are taking something that is not rightfully yours, and the management is justified in asking you to leave.
Of course, if the management does not ask you to leave, and you aren’t doing any harm to the restaurant or its premises, you are not actively doing anything morally wrong. If they have signs posted that say NO LOITERING, now, that’s one thing. If not, you have every right to go sit there until they throw you out.
If you are in danger of some sort – say, freezing to death – you have a moral right to go into a warm place for shelter.
You are a college student. By natural law of the universe, college students can and do do anything they want.
A cup of coffee is remarkably cheap. I used to consider it “table rental,” myself. Whether or not I actually drank the coffee was irrelevant.
That’s what I do. I am self employed and work from home. I occasionally meet clients at Peet’s or Starbuck’s. I don’t like coffee so I’ll buy a small bottle of juice to pay for the use of their facilities.
I don’t know about fancy sit-down restaurants, but I think bars are more than happy to have someone inside, as long as they’re not taking up a paying customers space. Having people inside makes the place look happening, and attracts paying customers.
Are you waiting for the bus or waiting for class? I would imagine that even at the smaller colleges, there are plenty of libraries and buildings with nooks and crannies that students always hang out in, even if the nooks and crannies weren’t specifically designed for student hang-outs.
As for waiting in private spaces, I suppose there’s nothing strictly wrong with it, but it is a little unusual for someone to hover and not purchase anything (restaurants or coffee shops) while certain other buildings (bookstores, magazine stores) are made for browsing and while I’ve never seen any clean-cut person thrown out of a bookstore, restaurants/coffee shops are generally quicker to kick people out. Of course, if a store tells you to leave, I imagine that you’ll feel slightly odd coming back in should you ever choose to again.
Pff…as if his being there were depriving some paying customer of heat. If anything he is contributing his 98.7 to the store. Unless maybe he is very very fat and is standing in front of the only heating duct. That’s just rude. :dubious:
I used to go to coffee shops to read all the time in undergrad. Sometimes I’d buy a cup of coffee, sometimes not. I don’t think that it has any moral value at all.
Yes, you are “costing” the restaurant. If you go and sit at a table, they have to clean the table and change the settings after you leave. The proprietor/staff also has to keep an eye on you and/or make sure you’re not waiting for service. You’re causing wear and tear on the place, too. These things aren’t “free.” Paying customers are not charged separately for these things because the fees are included in the price of the food being sold.
So, yes, you should feel guilty about regularly hanging out in a restaurant or bar without making a purchase.
As Master Wang-Ka notes, it would be a different story if you were in an emergency situation and really needed a warm place to be. And I’d say that it would be okay to use the business’s facilities without paying if you found yourself in an unusual set of circumstances that would not likely be repeated. In that case, it’s like the business is doing you a favor. And like any case where someone’s doing you a favor, you shouldn’t take advantage of their kindness by repeatedly asking for the favor when you could find a better solution.
I can see maybe sitting in a Starbucks or other coffee shop and not buying anything. Although, sorry, but it’s kind of weird. But a restaurant? A regular sit-down restaurant? I have worked at many restaurants and never once would we have let someone just park it at a table and not buy anything at all. I suppose someone could have sat at a bar stool and ordered only water and there’s not much we could have done about it. But sitting at a table would not be okay. Maybe it would be “okay” at McDonald’s or a caféteria-type place, although really, spring the $1.00 for a coffee and then take 2 hours to drink it. But taking up a table at a sit-down restaurant and buying nothing would never have been tolerated at any place I’ve ever worked at.
I’d go for buying a cup of coffee, and chatting to the wait staff when things are quiet. Restaurant work seems spread between utter chaotic bustle and periods of nothing to do. If you go at a quiet period you may find you are a welcome distraction. Also if you chose a place where you do eat ocasionally you can become a favoured customer quite easily even f you rarely buy much, just by being really nice.
Well now, in all fairness, I think only the Pope or a Jewish grandmother is able to dole out guilt like that.
But, slightly more seriously, if the management of the establishment doesn’t have a problem with it, then there’s no need for guilt. I personally (as others have mentioned here) will always buy a cup of coffee or something small and cheap if I’m going to sit for a while somewhere. But, I don’t see an issue with going into a coffee shop to sit and read the paper, as long as they don’t ask you to leave.
I don’t think I’d go into a restaurant without buying something, though. There, the tables/service are more directly related to income (as opposed to a place where there’s counter service and no table service), so I’d feel kind of weird about that.
Back when I had more occasion to work outside my home office, I used to find a quiet coffeehouse, buy a drink, and ask the counter person if they minded if I sat over at that table in the corner for a few hours (or all day, or however long I planned to be there) to work. I never got a negative response.
Even a cookie for a buck might be enough to cover “table rental,” if you’re a inobtrusive “customer.” But if that’s out of your budget, you might try just asking whoever’s there if they mind if you sit and warm up for a little bit. Just letting them know that you’re aware you’re a slight intrusion, politely asking permission, and not being a nuisance (well-kempt, quiet, don’t take up a lot of space) might soften them up more than if you just come in and squat. And it might grease things if you become a regular and buy a token something at least every few days, if not every day.