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Bad Manners and Brimstone
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#Post#: 1732--------------------------------------------------
Self-Serve Drink Stations
DIR By: NFPwife
Date: May 18, 2018, 8:18 am
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When you're at a self-serve drink station and getting coffee or
tea, do you stand at the station and assemble your drink - e.g.
open sweetener packets, open a cup of creamer, stir, put on the
lid, etc. or do you move to the side and assemble? (General you,
of course :D )
I think, particularly when there are people behind you, that one
should move to the side to assemble the drink and that it's rude
to stand assembling a drink if you're blocking access.
This happens most notably at two hotels I frequent. The creamer
and sweetener aren't in dispensers and cups and packets have to
be opened. The sweeteners, creamers, teabags, and hot choc
packets are in ceramic bowls that are in stainless steel towers.
Basically, stored vertically to take up as little space as
possible on the counter. The way the station is set up, people
will get their coffee or hot water and then open a tea bag,
sweetener, creamer cup, hot chocolate packet, or any combination
therein and stir in that very spot. That has them blocking every
one behind them from getting sweetener, a tea bag, creamer cup,
etc.
Both hotel have numerous tables to which one can easily step to
assemble the drink. If someone is quickly assembling a drink -
one sweetener, one creamer and seems to be moving on, I wait. If
someone has put something in, stirred, taken a sip, then I say
"Excuse me, I just need a tea bag and sweetener" and move to a
table to assemble. 90% of the time the person watches at me do
that and their face seems to have an "Oh, I should have taken my
things and moved," look flash on it or someone in their party
corrects them.
It's a very small thing but it happens often enough,
particularly as self serve stations are becoming more and more
common that I thought I'd get opinions.
#Post#: 1747--------------------------------------------------
Re: Self-Serve Drink Stations
DIR By: Pattycake
Date: May 18, 2018, 9:05 am
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I think people take their stuff and stop and deal with it right
there because that's where the garbage can is! They want to
dispose of their debris right away. They ought to move, I agree.
They can put the stuff on the table or their plate, then throw
it out as they leave, just like they would do if it was served
at the table, but... they don't.
#Post#: 1748--------------------------------------------------
Re: Self-Serve Drink Stations
DIR By: Anastasia Beaverhausen
Date: May 18, 2018, 9:07 am
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I always step to the side. I don't recall being anywhere that
moving over wasn't possible. Even with the tiny counter in my
local coffee shop where all the "extras" are there is room for 2
people.
#Post#: 1750--------------------------------------------------
Re: Self-Serve Drink Stations
DIR By: Jem
Date: May 18, 2018, 9:13 am
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Unless there are signs directing people to step aside and
"doctor" their drinks in a particular location removed from
where the drink is poured, I don't think anyone is doing
anything wrong to simply finish making their drink before moving
aside. I see this more as an issue for the hotel to address if
it feels it important enough. Perhaps have the liquids in an
area separate from the sweeteners and flavorers and stirrers.
If you feel someone else is blocking you, you certainly can ask
them to move to allow you to get your own drink. But I don't
think it is rude to not anticipatorily move if the "station" is
set up so that it is most efficient to "doctor" the drink right
where the drink is poured.
I think this is similar to at self-serve soft drink areas. If
one person is getting a flavor from one end, another person can
simultaneously get a different flavor from the opposite end. But
it isn't rude for a person to get their flavor from the middle
which would "prevent" the next person in line from
simultaneously getting that same flavor or the adjacent flavor.
#Post#: 1759--------------------------------------------------
Re: Self-Serve Drink Stations
DIR By: Lynn2000
Date: May 18, 2018, 9:36 am
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Generally I think it's important to be aware of others around
you, and not get in their way/block them from using something.
However in a particular situation it depends on the setup,
whether it makes more sense to grab things quickly and move, or
fix your drink right there.
At a hotel I used to go to for conferences, their coffee
stations were large tables, but almost completely covered with
the coffee/hot water/etc. stuff. There was very little room to
fix your drink. The sugar etc. was in packets, so you could grab
and go, but they also didn't provide much surface area
elsewhere. ::) Plus most people at the conference had
backpacks. First coffee of the day + backpacks + crowded
conditions meant it was very easy to knock into someone carrying
a hot beverage. I think some people just looked around and
decided they would do less damage if they stood still, fixed up
their coffee, put the lid on, and THEN moved away--than if they
tried to grab stuff separately and get out of the way.
What I appreciate is if someone acknowledges that I'm waiting on
them. Doesn't have to be verbally, just a glance, maybe a nod.
To me that says, "I know you're there and waiting, this is the
amount of time I need." And I'm like, that's cool, don't rush, I
don't want the person behind me rushing ME. What I didn't like
was the person who, from their body language, seemed to think
they were the only person in the universe (that is, they did not
acknowledge anyone else), and they could be leisurely and add
this and add that and so forth. I don't want to see anyone RUSH,
and possibly hurt themselves--just acknowledge that there are
other people, and we are all in this sub-optimal situation
together. I think that acknowledgment--again, just a glance
sometimes--really helps set the waiting people at ease.
I think it's also appropriate to say, "Excuse me," if someone is
blocking access, and there ARE places they could easily go. Like
a friendly, "Excuse me, could I get to the coffee, please?" And
if the person is daydreaming they will become alert and move. Or
if they have a need to be slow, they will say, "Oh, sorry, just
let me put the lid on first," or something like that.
#Post#: 1785--------------------------------------------------
Re: Self-Serve Drink Stations
DIR By: Hmmm
Date: May 18, 2018, 10:54 am
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I try to move to the side and make way for someone else to fill
their cup. So fill my cup, grab the stirrer and sugar, move to
the side out of the way of the cups and coffee dispenser, add
the sugar, stir and then grab my trash and throw away at a
convenient location. It does drive me a little nuts when someone
stands directly in front of the coffee dispenser without trying
to move to the side at all.
#Post#: 1804--------------------------------------------------
Re: Self-Serve Drink Stations
DIR By: guest249
Date: May 18, 2018, 11:31 am
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I drink my coffee black, so I don't really run into this, but
I would think if there's room to move to the side, that is the
best thing to do. I don't necessarily think those who don't are
doing it for any other reason than that's where all the stuff
is. They may not realize someone is waiting on them or that it's
a problem. Saying "excuse me" or making eye contact is
probably all that's needed to catch their attention.
If a coffee line is getting long because too much is happening
in a small space, then the hotel could change the setup I
suppose. Most coffee shops don't have the room, but a hotel
may. You can always try making a suggestion and see how they
choose to respond.
#Post#: 1817--------------------------------------------------
Re: Self-Serve Drink Stations
DIR By: Hmmm
Date: May 18, 2018, 12:08 pm
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--- Quote from: Bah12 link ---
>
> I drink my coffee black, so I don't really run into this,
but I would think if there's room to move to the side, that is
the best thing to do. I don't necessarily think those who don't
are doing it for any other reason than that's where all the
stuff is. They may not realize someone is waiting on them or
that it's a problem. Saying "excuse me" or making eye contact
is probably all that's needed to catch their attention.
>
> If a coffee line is getting long because too much is happening
in a small space, then the hotel could change the setup I
suppose. Most coffee shops don't have the room, but a hotel
may. You can always try making a suggestion and see how they
choose to respond.
>
--- End Quote ---
There might not be someone immediately waiting but during those
morning crushes at the hotels, it just makes since to go ahead
and move out of the way. Why wait to be asked or for someone to
try and catch your eye.
#Post#: 1822--------------------------------------------------
Re: Self-Serve Drink Stations
DIR By: Jem
Date: May 18, 2018, 12:16 pm
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--- Quote from: Hmmm link ---
>
> [quote author=Bah12 link=topic=151.msg1804#msg1804
date=1526661076]
> I drink my coffee black, so I don't really run into this,
but I would think if there's room to move to the side, that is
the best thing to do. I don't necessarily think those who don't
are doing it for any other reason than that's where all the
stuff is. They may not realize someone is waiting on them or
that it's a problem. Saying "excuse me" or making eye contact
is probably all that's needed to catch their attention.
>
> If a coffee line is getting long because too much is happening
in a small space, then the hotel could change the setup I
suppose. Most coffee shops don't have the room, but a hotel
may. You can always try making a suggestion and see how they
choose to respond.
>
--- End Quote ---
There might not be someone immediately waiting but during those
morning crushes at the hotels, it just makes since to go ahead
and move out of the way. Why wait to be asked or for someone to
try and catch your eye.
[/quote]
Depending on how the area is set up, moving out of the way might
actually create more problems. Is there a space nearby to set
down a cup to sprinkle sweetener in? Will moving before fully
organized cause people to drop things or spill? The person who
was there first should be able to get their drink and then move
when done, assuming no one is purposefully dawdling. I think
people should be aware of others, but that goes both ways. I
also think that if you want something, you should "speak up"
about it, whether that means saying "excuse me" or simply
catching someone's eye and reaching around them. I don't think
it's rude for a person to simply go about their business as
opposed to be on the lookout for whether someone else wants to
be exactly where they are.
#Post#: 1829--------------------------------------------------
Re: Self-Serve Drink Stations
DIR By: guest249
Date: May 18, 2018, 12:20 pm
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--- Quote from: Hmmm link ---
>
> [quote author=Bah12 link=topic=151.msg1804#msg1804
date=1526661076]
> I drink my coffee black, so I don't really run into this,
but I would think if there's room to move to the side, that is
the best thing to do. I don't necessarily think those who don't
are doing it for any other reason than that's where all the
stuff is. They may not realize someone is waiting on them or
that it's a problem. Saying "excuse me" or making eye contact
is probably all that's needed to catch their attention.
>
> If a coffee line is getting long because too much is happening
in a small space, then the hotel could change the setup I
suppose. Most coffee shops don't have the room, but a hotel
may. You can always try making a suggestion and see how they
choose to respond.
>
--- End Quote ---
There might not be someone immediately waiting but during those
morning crushes at the hotels, it just makes since to go ahead
and move out of the way. Why wait to be asked or for someone to
try and catch your eye.
[/quote]
Sure. I wasn't suggesting that they shouldn't. Just pointing
out it may not occur to them to do that. When there's a table
with condiments, stir sticks and a garbage can, it looks like
the place designated for doctoring coffee. If they realize
someone is waiting, that may be what signals them to move over
assuming there's space.
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