My top coffee shop pet peeves:

[janradder]

1. People who take up more than one table just so they can put their dirty cups or bags on it, especially when the place is crowded.

2. People who have loud conversations on cell phones.

3. People who think it's impossible to hold a conversation with the person sitting directly across from them without sharing it with the entire coffee shop.

4. The kid rhythmically tapping the metal table with his pen as he listens to his iPod.

5. The baristas who have had the same damn Lucinda Williams CD on repeat for the past two weeks.


Seriously, I need to start bringing some headphones.

Comments

[jamiam.livejournal.com]

I actually bring earplugs.

[jamiam.livejournal.com]

As a result, my new pet peeve is the Smelly Coffee Shop Lady--the woman who felt the need to bathe in migraine-inducing fragrance before leaving the house, and who invariably needs to sit next to me. Not that it matters, since she's so powerfully odorous, she's still overwhelming from the other side of the shop.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

Thankfully, because the coffee shop is in an aging-punker/stay-at-home-green-mom neighborhood and attracts those types, I haven't had the Smelly Coffee Shop Lady to contend with yet (but I do know the types).

[jamiam.livejournal.com]

Stay-at-home-green-moms are also occasionally prone to dousing themselves in sandalwood-and-anisette fragrance! Mark my words...

[janradder.livejournal.com]

I don't think these ones will be -- they seem to be more of the frazzled-and-barely-had-enough-time-to-get-dressed type (though that sandalwood is pretty nasty when used as bath water).

[joelarnold.livejournal.com]

I usually enjoy writing in coffee shops -- I like the sort of white noise of numerous conversations. But yeah, every once in a while there'll be someone whose voice just cuts through all that and nests in your brain, making it impossible to do anything BUT listen to their conversation.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

Most of the time the people at the coffee shop I go to are pretty considerate and keep the volume of their voices down, but about once or twice a week, there's a doofus holding a meeting with a client there (like attorney/client, contractor/client, etc.) and those conversations tend to be rather loud. I really don't understand why they don't meet in an office or the person's home, but they don't. Music though, tends to be my biggest nemesis. No matter how much I try, I can't block it out if it's something I don't like or, in the case of the Lucinda Williams CD, something I've heard five times already that day (and no, I'm not exaggerating about the number of times it was played).