Ben Brooks makes several good arguments for working from coffee shops:
“Coffee Shops started sprouting up everywhere in the U.S. because of massive demand for the coffee shop — not massive demand for coffee, mind you, but for the seats in the shops. This is evident with the way most shops are setup, but no more evidence needed than to look at the move of Starbucks providing free WiFi, instead of paid WiFi they started with.”
I agree. There’s no sense in fighting this trend, and the coffee shops that do will largely fail. But also, as customers, we should be careful not to abuse the privilege. I try to follow these simple rules when working from a coffee shop:
- I don’t take up more space than I need.
If there’s a line, I usually wait until after I place my order before claiming a chair.
For local small businesses especially, I leave a tip.
After a few hours, I order another coffee or wrap up and leave.
Ben also points to a post from CJ Chilvers about libraries. I worked from my neighborhood library earlier this week — it’s a really nice, quiet environment — but the Austin libraries don’t allow you to bring any drinks inside yet, let alone have an on-site espresso machine. While traveling in Oregon a couple years ago, I remember the Eugene public library having a really nice cafe and I was immediately jealous.
