Cafe Policy

(Photo courtesy of Google photos)

Policy is policy .... some do not mind to follow a cafe policy and then again, some mind A LOT, even though the policy is very simple.
Running a cafe is a lot of work, and having a cafe policy helps make or break a cafe. 
People come into a cafe and think that they can occupy the cafe space and not purchase anything... others think that it is like a picnic area and do not mind to bring in their own packed or purchased in another location food and eat freely in our cafe without purchasing anything, these actions do not help the cafe survive at all. 
This one afternoon, in particular, was difficult. A young lady entered and purchased a drink and went to a table to sit down, and not long after that a man arrived and sat down at the table with her. I had noticed that he had a huge thermal and a small bag of food had brought in and he sat the food on an empty chair and the thermal on the floor beside his chair. 
Our policy is that we do not allow drinks or meals brought in our cafe from outside and also that the seating inside the cafe is reserved for customers of the cafe. This policy does not have anything to do with a person's race or ethnic background and it is posted for everyone. 
I approached the man and informed him of our cafe's policy and that we can not allow food brought inside the cafe from other establishments, he got upset right away, started arguing with me and telling me to go away and leave him alone so he can work at the table. I proceeded to tell him that he can not have the drink and food inside the cafe and offered him many options such as taking it out himself, or me taking it and leaving it behind the cafe counter, he was still irate with me and refused to accept any options that I gave him so I asked him to leave. He refused to leave and threatened me with dialing 911 on his phone by pushing the numbers in and threatening to press call. He did this three times and finally, I said.. go ahead and call them, go ahead. I was not getting anywhere with this guy so I told him that I will have to go and get the security and have him removed... still giving this man a choice, I told him that if I got the security and he got irate with him the same as he is with me, he will be banned from the whole area for 3 months, is this what you would like for me to do? He confirmed... go ahead. So I went and got the security and he still pushed to stay. I showed him the cafe policy and where on all the walls it was posted and he looked at me and said... come here and read them for me... as if he cannot read English!!! It's there right behind you, I stated. He was not interested in reading anything at this point and started arguing with the security guard. At this point, the security guard asked him to leave and for the fifth time, the man decided to get up and leave. 
REALLY... It takes all this to enforce a policy!! They are not that hard to follow, it is just common sense when coming into an establishment that sells coffee, tea and pastry for you not to bring in something from another location and occupy my space eating.... we can sell it to you and then you can occupy the space all you like. 

Can I kill you with my look?

Can I kill you with my look?

Courtesy of GIPHY

I do not think that I will ever fully understand the actions of other people. Every day I am bewildered at the strangest comments and actions of customers in a cafe. 

Today was no different! 

This morning a lady entered our Cafe with a large coffee from another coffee establishment and proceeded to hook up her laptop and make herself comfortable. We have a policy in our Cafe that we do not allow food or drink brought in from outside and in which we must enforce every day (it can get quite monotonous to keep up this policy) 

I went to the window where she was sitting on a bar stool and explained to her that she could not bring in a coffee from another coffee shop into our Cafe. (If looks could kill, I'd be dead at the moment) 

She explained to me, its almost finished, I will finish it and throw it out. 

I went on to tell her that she would have to go to the neighboring business if she wanted to continue to drink her coffee. She was not impressed!

She then said... ok, I will go and then come back. (another policy that we enforce is that if you are going to sit in our Cafe, you have to purchase something) only two policies to follow and you would that from those policies we are asking them to sign over their life. 

Ok, she got up and went to the till and purchased a juice box. A SMALL $1.50 JUICE BOX. 

REALLY ..... 

She continued to work on her laptop and make several phone calls for 5 hours in the cafe and all the time drinking a $1.50 juice box, and still holding onto the coffee that she brought into our cafe from another establishment. 

Where do people get off using the internet, plugging into the electricity and using that, and occupying my space for over 5 hours on a $1.50 children's boxed juice?? 

After several hours I went over to her and asked her if she had finished with her drinks ... she grunted!! 

WOW ... 

After the grunt and the look of disgust that I had actually had the guts to ask such an annoying question... she said yes, I finished my juice. No, I said... did you finish the coffee? (which she had sitting in clear view for everyone to see)

Yes, she said. 

Do you mind if I take the cup and throw it out?

She grunted again.

REALLY!!! 

She gave me the cup and I threw it out. 

Strange... why do people think that they can get away with things like this. Do people owe you a living? 

I have a disease?

I have a disease?

Photo: Ramzi Hashisho in Freeimages.

As manager of a coffee and tea shop, we see a lot of things, good things that would make you proud and bad things that make you just scratch your head and wonder... why!!! 

This day was the same as any other day, a Mom and her daughter came into the neighboring business and spent some time in there and then they walked over to the Cafe. This is not the first time that I have met the Mother and Daughter, the Mother is actually quite nice to chat to but the Daughter is another story... she is a major handful with saucing the Mother, kicking the Mother, backtalking the Mother, kicking the furniture in the cafe, laying on the floors and rolling around in the cafe, and majorly acting like a child that suffers from ADD.
I am not an expert in ADD but I have seen a few children suffering from this awful disorder and it is very difficult for both the child and parent as well. 
IF this Daughter is not suffering from ADD then she is not well behaved and the Mothers parenting skills are non-existent (this can not be, the Mother seemed so nice to chat to)

As I said... I get verbal diarrhea a lot and out it comes... and this time was no different. I started to pick up some of the things around the table as the Mom said that they were going to leave, and I asked the Mom - Do you mind if I ask you a question? She said sure... what is it?

Me - Is your daughter sick? I mean, does she suffer (and looking for the word "disorder" and out of the mouth comes "DISEASE".  Does your daughter suffer from a "disease"? 

Mother - No, what do you mean?

Me - Looking down at daughter as her head was on the seat of the cafe chair and her body on the floor as she was stretched out under the table and kicked the chair opposite of her with her feet thinking to myself... there must be something wrong... can this actually be normal?? I mean - Does she have ADD or something like that?

Mother - No!

Daughter - Looking up at me with huge blue eyes stated ..... I HAVE A DISEASE!!! 

Me - I did all that I could do with my tongue not to laugh.. bit it, folded it, and even tried to look away... but I wanted to laugh with such a statement that comes out of the daughter's mouth and the look on her face.

Mother - to her daughter - Come on... let's go!!

So in the end... the problem was parenting skills or the lack thereof. How can parents be like this, or in better words, let their children act like this? 

Welcome to the Verbal Pooper Scooper

Welcome to the Verbal Pooper Scooper

My husband and I manage a coffee and tea cafe in downtown Calgary and we face situations every day, some are funny, some will drive you to pull out all your hair and others will just leave you wondering...
I decided to write about the good, the bad and the downright ugly of managing and running a coffee shop. Some say that I have verbal diarrhea but I tell it just like it is, so let's get downright honest here, the customer is not always right ... let's say that again... THE CUSTOMER IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT!

Sit back, grab a cup of your favorite mojo and be prepared to be amazed and maybe you will also have a chuckle or two as well.