# What's up with people who 'hang out' in convenience stores? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 23, 2011, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535 "2011-06-23T08:28:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e9a140/32.png) [@aerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerie)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/1 "2011-06-23T08:28:09Z")
Is this just a southern or small town thing? I see the same people every evening just standing around inside the local convenient store, usually men; some stand around for more than an hour or two. It’s not just my local store, I’ve noticed this phenom most everywhere I’ve lived in the south. I just don’t get it. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/2 "2011-06-23T08:51:54Z")
I presume, although I do not have a cite, that many of these people do not have much else to do. Some might be escaping the home environment for a little while. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/3 "2011-06-23T08:56:05Z")
A few ideas that come to mind are air conditioning, snacks, drinks, video games, newspapers and magazines, restrooms. Some of them may be delivery guys standing around to have their coffee and nachos before they hit the road. Basically they are partaking in the conveniences offered by the convenience store. ---
**Author:** ![boneman1st](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b782af/32.png) [@boneman1st](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boneman1st)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/4 "2011-06-23T09:40:26Z")
Look it up yourself :(. These are some of the reasonings for ‘Big Brother’. Read the book or see the original BW film. Very enlightening :smack:. ---
**Author:** ![aerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e9a140/32.png) [@aerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerie)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/5 "2011-06-23T11:57:12Z")
:rolleyes: > [@boneman1st](#): > > Look it up yourself :(. These are some of the reasonings for ‘Big Brother’. Read the book or see the original BW film. Very enlightening. I assume you’re referring to the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, which I’ve read, thank you very much. :rolleyes: There may be an element of sloth, but when I choose to be slothenly, the Neighbor’s convenience mart is the last place you’ll find me. ---
**Author:** ![aerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e9a140/32.png) [@aerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerie)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/6 "2011-06-23T12:10:34Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > A few ideas that come to mind are air conditioning… This could be true. How easy to forget that not everyone has the luxury of relaxing in a nice, cool house; a lot of us probably take it for granted. > [@](#): > > Some of them may be delivery guys standing around to have their coffee and nachos before they hit the road. Nah…these are definitely the same few locals that come in the evenings almost every night. They don’t seem to be causing a problem or disturbance to customers (other than being stared at when in the store). :smack: It just occurred to me that there _is_ a very attractive young woman who works the evening shift. Maybe they just enjoy the scenery. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/7 "2011-06-23T12:12:48Z")
> [@aerie](#): > > Is this just a southern or small town thing? I see the same people every evening just standing around inside the local convenient store, usually men; some stand around for more than an hour or two. It’s not just my local store, I’ve noticed this phenom most everywhere I’ve lived in the south. I just don’t get it. 😕 Sounds like the plot of “Clerks”. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/8 "2011-06-23T12:31:59Z")
> [@aerie](#): > > :smack: It just occurred to me that there _is_ a very attractive young woman who works the evening shift. Ah, there you go. Case closed. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/9 "2011-06-23T12:43:27Z")
If this is in a lower-income section of town, those folks may not have air conditioning at home. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/10 "2011-06-23T12:46:52Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Sounds like the plot of “Clerks”. That’s what I was going to say. There’s a good chance, especially in a small town that they know the clerk and it’s not that they’re hanging out at the store, but hanging out with the clerk. Also, what are you doing for an hour or two at the store that you’re noticing this? ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/11 "2011-06-23T12:56:30Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Also, what are you doing for an hour or two at the store that you’re noticing this? Just hanging out, talking with my friend the clerk, admiring the young woman who works there and taking advantage of the air conditioning I don’t have at home. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/12 "2011-06-23T14:54:32Z")
Having worked at convenience stores for 20 years: There are a lot of people who have absolutely nothing better to do. They are single, or hate their home life, have no friends, and are taking advantage of the captive audience behind the counter. At one place I worked, we had a small group of old men who would hang out on weekday mornings, drinking free coffee in exchange for making coffee when necessary. It probably saved the boss a decent amount of money. I was working alone until 7 AM, and from 5-7, it was literally impossible to keep 12 coffee pots full without making people wait and get angry. So for the price of a few cups of coffee, he got the benefit of two hours of unpaid hourly work at a critical rush time. Joe ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/13 "2011-06-23T15:23:03Z")
The 7/11 by my house has a regular cast of “hang out” characters; it’s a fairly recent development. The usual gang consists of homeless people, itinerant workers, and an occasional drug dealer thrown in for good measure. 25 years ago the only people who hung out in front of the store were kids on bikes drinking slurpees. I think the new storefront demographic is a reflection of the economy, increased immigration, and the proliferation of Section 8 housing in the area. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/14 "2011-06-23T15:32:19Z")
Nothing better to do combined with either no money/don’t drink, otherwise they’d be taking up a stool in a local bar. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/15 "2011-06-23T16:41:07Z")
Maybe it sort of takes the place of the old country stores with potbelly stoves, checkerboards, and rocking chairs. Just a place to hang out that’s not a bar. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/16 "2011-06-23T16:58:38Z")
I doubt this has a factual answer. Moving to IMHO from GQ. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/17 "2011-06-23T17:02:51Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > …25 years ago the only people who hung out in front of the store were kids on bikes drinking slurpees. I think the new storefront demographic is a reflection of the economy, increased immigration, and the proliferation of Section 8 housing in the area. or the kids on bikes grew up… ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/18 "2011-06-23T17:59:28Z")
7-elevens also have good sized parking lots (at least the ones around here do), and often you find change that people dropped. ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/19 "2011-06-23T19:15:24Z")
> [@aerie](#): > > :smack: It just occurred to me that there _is_ a very attractive young woman who works the evening shift. Maybe they just enjoy the scenery. Very first thing that came to my mind. The second was the coffee thing someone else mentioned. I see both all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535/20 "2011-06-23T20:05:51Z")
The modern convenience store has supplanted the “ice house”. Article in the San Antonio _Current_ about Texas ice houses: [Current 25: The rise, fall, and rise (?!) of the South Texas ice house | 25th Anniversary | San Antonio | San Antonio Current](http://sacurrent.com/dining/food/current-25-the-rise-fall-and-rise-of-the-south-texas-ice-house-1.1155350). Hope you find this info useful. Regards, [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-people-who-hang-out-in-convenience-stores/586535.md?page=2)