# Issues I have with coffee shops **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 5, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183 "2004-12-05T06:26:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/21 "2004-12-05T19:09:04Z")
> [@grienspace](#): > > Keep in mind that bumping a three legged table as you get up can have catastrophic results. It doesn’t have to have three legs, just three feet. Or it could have one big circular foot. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/22 "2004-12-05T20:00:31Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > YES! YES YES YES! Why is it that us random people on a message board are better furniture engineers than whoever it is who got paid a salary to design these things? Wait… a 3-legged table can still lean to one side. Do you guys mean that it wouldn’t wobble? Because it could still lean. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/23 "2004-12-05T20:03:17Z")
It wouldn’t matter so much if it leaned, because at least the coffee would go undisturbed once you put it down. ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/24 "2004-12-05T20:15:41Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > It wouldn’t matter so much if it leaned, because at least the coffee would go undisturbed once you put it down. Assuming it doesn’t lean so much that the coffee cup slides right into your lap. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/25 "2004-12-05T20:16:44Z")
> [@LeeshaJoy](#): > > Assuming it doesn’t lean so much that the coffee cup slides right into your lap. Well, yes, but at least then it’s noticeable as soon as you put the cup down, as opposed to grabbing you by surprise should you move while in the vicinity of the table. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/26 "2004-12-05T20:39:41Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > Music is ‘supposed’ to be loud according to…whom? The Popular Kids, whose agenda is to prevent people who crave intelligent conversation from meeting and eventually breeding, lest they eventually weaken the race. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/27 "2004-12-05T21:10:21Z")
Wow, are coffee shops really getting that bad with the loud music and all? Because I’ve been in at least six or eight different coffee shops here in New Orleans in the last year or so, and I honestly can’t remember one that had anything other than very soft jazz playing, if they had music at all. Most don’t. Of course, this is also a town where coffee has been sacred for many, many years (at least two coffee shops have celebrated over 150 years of continual existence), and where chain stores are almost not to be found (even Starbucks can’t break into any but a few yuppified or outer-reaches suburban areas), so it makes sense that there are coffee shops left where the guys in their white rubber boots can stop in for a café au lait after dropping off their load of shrimp at the market down the road. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/28 "2004-12-05T21:41:44Z")
> [@Mama Tiger](#): > > Wow, are coffee shops really getting that bad with the loud music and all? Because I’ve been in at least six or eight different coffee shops here in New Orleans in the last year or so, and I honestly can’t remember one that had anything other than very soft jazz playing, if they had music at all. Most don’t. Of course, this is also a town where coffee has been sacred for many, many years (at least two coffee shops have celebrated over 150 years of continual existence), and where chain stores are almost not to be found (even Starbucks can’t break into any but a few yuppified or outer-reaches suburban areas), so it makes sense that there are coffee shops left where the guys in their white rubber boots can stop in for a café au lait after dropping off their load of shrimp at the market down the road. With CDM, _who_ in their right mind would want to go to Starbucks 😕 I will confess to making beignets, freshly squeezed OJ and chickory coffee now and then when I really _really_ get to missing it…there was something absolutely sunsual about sitting there and enjoying a velvet smooth dawn - touch of mist off the water, sun _just_ coming up, a bit of chill in the air and knowing that in half an hour you will be snuggled into bed. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/29 "2004-12-05T22:37:35Z")
> [@Mama Tiger](#): > > Wow, are coffee shops really getting that bad with the loud music and all? . Oh, yeah, and not just coffeeshops. We went out “fine dining” one night. The music in the restaurant was so loud our 76-year-old couldn’t hear us talk over the din. Heck, even we thirtysomethings were having trouble and we were shouting across the table at each other. We asked to waitress if the music could be turned down, at least in our area which was far, far, FAR form the bar in a “fine dining”, suit-and-tie, civilised, no-elbows-on-the-table kinda of area. “Well, I’ll speak the the manager,” she answered, “however I don’t think it’s possible to turn down the music in just one section.” Firslty, we knew she was giving us a line of horseshit and wouldn’t talk to the manager at all – she’ll just hope we’d drop it. Secondly, we followed the speaker cables and – Harketh! – they seemed to all end up at a series of sliders, discreetly recessed into the wall, and conveniently labelled “front dining room”, “atrium”, “bar”, “dining room”, “lounge” etc. We brought the volume of our speakers right down. No one else seemed to notice and no one complained. Good thing we found the sliders. Because I can guarantee we were about to boost Sniffs\_Markers’s friend up so she could disconnect the speaker wire from the back of the speaker that was over our heads. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/30 "2004-12-06T00:30:40Z")
Hee! Revenge. Actually, I hate loud music in all circumstances in which people aren’t there specifically to enjoy loud music, as in a discotheque. I have partial hearing loss that makes it extremely irritating to have to strain to hear people over that kind of intentional noise level, so you can imagine how i feel about trying to do work in that circumstance. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/31 "2004-12-06T01:39:16Z")
> [@](#): > > **chatelaine** said: > The Beehive on Forbes sounds like it was great and even better than the one in SS. It was, but its desire to become a college hot nightspot seemed to have killed it. The other coffee shop on campus that I used to frequent, Cafe Zio, I think is also gone now. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/32 "2004-12-06T02:35:08Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > The Popular Kids, whose agenda is to prevent people who crave intelligent conversation from meeting and eventually breeding, lest they eventually weaken the race. See, that’s why the SDMB exists. Well, not really - but some of us have met our SOs here, and some of us have subsequently procreated. We’re just doing our part to balance out with the dummies. I’ve taken to going to the coffee shop within the Borders bookstore in Towson. It doesn’t have loud music. It’s lovely. Same with most of the coffee shops in bookstores - be they chain or not. No blasting music, if any at all. Lovely. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/33 "2004-12-06T02:36:35Z")
This is a direct consequence of coffee shops becoming trendy places to go; every dorkbrain opens one, and so they all have the same level of planning and customer service as your average Taco Bell. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/34 "2004-12-06T20:19:44Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > This is a direct consequence of coffee shops becoming trendy places to go; every dorkbrain opens one, and so they all have the same level of planning and customer service as your average Taco Bell. Which is why, in the future, all restaurants will be Taco Bell. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/35 "2004-12-06T22:22:16Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > … a coffee shop oughta be playing jazz. That’s just how it’s meant to be. Preferably Miles Davis, while goateed hepcats wearing black turtlenecks and berets chain-smoke Gauloises and gesticulate wildly, loudly discussing Sartre and Camus. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/36 "2004-12-06T23:28:13Z")
My local coffe bar has real furniture (easy chairs, couches, coffee tables) in several large rooms, plus an inner court type of place that takes up half of it from the entrance to most of the center. This part has regular food court tables and chairs, plus a few high tables and stool height chairs. There are several ‘bars’ built in to the walls separating the court from outer rooms. Two of the four outer rooms have french doors, the other two have no doors, just the opening. The two closeable rooms have their own sound systems. The main court plays classic rock, jazz, or the college station at low levels. No speakers at all in the two semi private rooms. All in all, a very nice non chain place. Run by a fairly well off retired couple who hires staff from the liberal arts college just down the way. I found it quite by accident one cold wintry day. ---
**Author:** ![todd33rpm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@todd33rpm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/todd33rpm)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183/37 "2004-12-07T12:45:09Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > Welcome to Lowest Common Denominator for public retreats. The same syndrome infested bars ages ago. Big box labels aren’t even clues, alas, because danged few hold outs remain. The inane formula is pandemic. > I cherish my local (_wonderful_) coffee bar because it stalwartly skims beneath the radar, relying and thriving on fanatic customers, resistent to trends and wannabes. The furnishings are… quirky (okay, old) but comfortable and spacious. The coffee and go-with munchables are limited but excellent. Good jazz plays very softly in the background, mostly to keep the great staff happy. Heck, they have a running ‘word of the day’ game, chalked behind the counter, with genuinely tough words. > It’s a comfy and welcoming–and personal–as a pair of old slippers. I live in dread of the day the owner retires and/or The Formula takes over. > > Veb > > Music is ‘supposed’ to be loud according to…whom? Having no idea of your location, I’m almost convinced you’re talking about our favorite coffeehouse in Bloomington, The Runcible Spoon. Great desserts, great coffee selection, live plants (even in winter), great music selection (occasionally from the radio, tuned to our local community station, very eclectic stuff), a room FULL of books of all types (lotsa great literary anthologies and such), and all the hand-crafted, simple tables are very stable…because they have checkerboard patterns burned into them so you can play chess, and you REALLY don’t want an unstable table making your pieces fall over. If I still lived downtown, I’d probably be there every day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/issues-i-have-with-coffee-shops/278183.md?page=1)