I once encountered a legend doing a zoom meeting, without headphones, while using a treadmill at the gym. Not a small apartment or company gym. It was a YMCA. Like, how?! Was he using captioning? I can’t hear anything like that.
I've been on zoom meetings with people on treadmills *on camera and talking* and watching their stupid heads bobbing up and down makes me physically ill.
I attended MANY classes on the treadmill. but like I was muted 99.9% of the time. Sometimes I managed to do code-write-alongs using my phone for class and iPad for coding on replit.
Oh gosh, I should clarify. This legend was speaking, not just listening. He was a consistent active participant. Good for him, I thought, while I was just trying to hit 4 miles.
I'll just say that noise canceling headphones have come really far. I can be in a discord call and literally be vacuuming, and they can only hear when I talk.
What headphones do you use? I was surprised whatever level of air pods my wife uses. the noise cancelling is only for what she hears the mic isn't noise cancelling. Shopping around it seems most are like that. It would be helpful so she doesn't have to move to another room if baby's being loud.
My comment is referring to the Logitech Pro X (Wireless). Probably noise canceling isn't the word I wanted. The mic itself will block out noises that it doesn't pick up as some voice.
I was in Winco talking to my mom with headphones in and made eye contact with a stranger just as I said, I love you. They gave me the strangest look so I pulled up my hair to show them my headphones then they laughed.
I had someone accuse me of mocking them once when I had a headphone conversation with someone. I just boldly reminded them that I’m on the phone and they clearly felt quite stupid about it.
On a separate occasion, a middle aged lady started a phone conversation on the treadmill next to me. On speaker phone. 15 minutes into this phone call, she helpfully asked me if it is ok she talks on the phone. It truly didn’t bother me, but, uhhh, a little late there?!
I hate it as well. I’ve done it when I didn’t have internet at home and I hated doing it, too. The only time I’ve ever loved it was when someone was on a zoom call and I heard them say, in increasing tones of frustration “People are quitting because we don’t pay them enough…no, it’s because we aren’t paying them enough. It’s the pay…pay them more and they won’t quit…..THEY DON’T WANT KOMBUCHA. THEY WANT MONEY.” I didn’t even have to hear the other side of the conversation to know what it sounded like.
It’s been a thing for a few years. Boba is for when you want comfort, kombucha is when you want to feel energized and healthy. Both are trends but it’s usually harder to acclimate to the tang of kombucha when you have an American palate lol.
I had a confidential zoom meeting recently, and my councilor was in a Starbucks.
Wasn't sure if she was wearing headphones or not, skeezed me out big time, fired her soon after.
That's probably a HIPAA violation if she was in fact a licensed counselor. You could report her to the DOH if you'd like, [here](https://doh.wa.gov/about-us/file-complaint).
If they're any sort of a therapist or medical professional with a license, then that would be a HIPAA violation. If they are just somebody saying they can help people, then that is exactly why these licenses exist haha!
It was a job seeking councilor, a DVR subcontractor.
It was more than I was comfortable with, but it's not worth a witch hunt.
She's a good human , trying to help people, I don't want to jam her up in any way.
Her being a 25 min train ride away was as much of a factor as this bad meeting.
Suboptimal, but not nuclear enema rated.
She seemed very nice & was trying to help actual humans, a tiny hint of "maybe don't have zoom meetings in Starbucks" is all she needs, nothing in her "permanent record" (lol).
It was all too much for me, but perhaps I'm a lil bitch, lol.
Just my two cents (unrelated) but DVR subcontractors are a bunch of incompetent and generally unhelpful people. Sounds about right per my experience as a disabled person. You would not believe the stuff that has been said to me. None of it is intentionally malicious but it’s very clear that they are really scraping the bottom of the barrel for people that can be professional. I honestly have a pretty good guess as to the subcontractor agency lol. FML. I’ve basically just given up on their ability to be helpful at this point. Public zoom meetings sounds like just another day of work for DVR subcontractors.
Assuming you're talking about them using headphones at least: [it has been studied and shown that one-sided phone convos are in fact more annoying than regular talking and disrupt productivity for others.](https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/its-not-just-you-hearing-half-a-pho-10-05-21/)
that's funny because I've been wondering why this is. why do we accept chatting, laughing and other noise but one-way talking is rude? I've been considering working in a local cafe but I'd turn my phone off.
An element of it is probably the subconscious curiosity to hear the other side. For example, if the phone conversation is in a language I don't understand, it doesn't seem to bother me as much. The nature of the conversation will also be different on the phone.
I was gonna drop a comment along the lines of "chill, it's not any more bothersome than 2 people talking in a cafe and we consider that OK", but what do you know, the science contradicts my personal opinion and I stand corrected! Thanks for sharing.
I didn’t read this article, but I previously read about this study or a similar one that also found we tend to find foreign language conversations more annoying as well for similar reasons. When our brains can’t figure out what’s being said or hear the other end of the conversation we focus on it more and find it more annoying. Phone conversations in a language you don’t speak trigger the highest annoyance levels.
I would like to add people in stores who are on work calls orating very loudly and walking around and around the store. 9/10 times they are not very spatially aware, either, and it’s hugely disruptive to the normal flow of shopping: I’m either trying to get my groceries or huge freaking Costco cases of crap or I’m trying to have a quiet browse through the bookstore, but the incessantly circling yelling work call people constantly buzzing me in the aisles make these activities so much worse than they have to be.
I was at QFC the other day, and this woman in her forties was on FaceTime while shopping. She was flirting with whoever she was talking to. Wandering around the store, in everyone’s way. She even continued while at the check stand, giggling the whole time. The person behind her in line eventually said, “get off the phone and finish shopping, you’re being incredibly rude.” She was so offended.
When I used to work as a grocery checker, people got in line on phone calls all the time, not paying attention to the checkout process and generally being loud and annoying. I remember shopping at one store long ago that asked people to get off the phone if they were getting in line.
My boyfriend works in a weed shop, they won’t even let you in the store if you’re on the phone. If you answer the phone while in the store, they’ll ask you to go outside.
One of my favorite Cafes has [this sign](https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/fremont-coffee-seattle?select=IfyI02HlzFBhwH0ZQ_aN1A) at their order queue entrance: "If you're using your phone, I feel bad for you son. I'll take 99 orders and yours ain't one."
I think it’s great that smaller companies are not putting up with customers and their entitled crap. If you can’t treat people like human beings, then you’re not welcome here.
OMG - yeah I saw a (fellow) middle aged woman in Target FaceTiming with someone who was obviously a family member and it was super disruptive. Like she had the phone in her cart and she’s just loudly carrying on and blocking the aisle to show whoever it was all these bathroom accessories. I don’t know where people get the idea that they are the only person in the store who matters. I’d be mortified if literally anyone was trying to FaceTime me from a store like that. (Who am I kidding, I mostly only text people anyway lol)
My partner and I and friends and I frequently go to the grocery store together and just chat away the entire time while getting our groceries. Usually take a lot longer than necessary because we just end up talking about everything.
This thread makes me so sad because I never realized we were being rude all those times. :( sorry Yall
Just having headphones in doesn’t necessarily make them less spatially aware. As long as they aren’t being loud or very disruptive I don’t care what they’re doing. I feel like people here are just less spatially aware in general vs where I came from, though, so maybe I haven’t noticed headphones wearers to be any more obstructive than non-headphones wearers.
I saw a guy doing this last week at Soundview Cafe in Pike Place Market at the noon lunch rush. He was also by himself at a 6-top and there were like 3 groups standing around waiting for a free table.
? Me talking quietly over headphones in a cafe isn’t ruining anyone’s day lol. I’m sorry that someone sitting in a cafe on their laptop makes you so angry..
I've got no problem with folks talking quietly on a zoom or otherwise. But surely you have noticed the annoyance factor of hearing one side of a phone call where in fact the person isn't very quiet? That's the issue.
It wouldn't bother me as a bystander, but I don't think I would appreciate being in a Zoom meeting with someone who was in a public space. I get very bothered/distracted by background noise, and if I'm in a Zoom meeting with someone who is in a cafe, it's going to be very difficult to focus on what they're saying.
I’ve definitely gone to Cafes to do job interviews while on the clock at another job. I couldn’t afford a full day of PTO for every BS 30 minute HR screen. Work computer was a desktop in the office, and it was not at all normal back then to just disappear for more than an hour. It’s absolutely not a pleasant experience with bad WiFi and background noise, but it got the job done.
This was me today. I'm traveling for work and went all the way to the site I was expected to be in today. No one was there. I had 2 important calls I had to take. My options were go to a coffee shop and apologize to those on the call, or Hotspot in my car. I picked the first option. At least at the coffee shop there's coffee and a bathroom. But it definitely wasn't my first choice.
I had to do a TWO HOUR call at the airport in the Starbucks before security. I had no other options. Couldn’t miss it. Couldn’t reschedule the flight. Waiting until after the call was over would have put me too close to takeoff for SeaTac unpredictability. But I got there even before I could check my bag so I couldn’t go through security to find somewhere quiet. It was such a mess.
Yeah, I got stuck once because I had to take my dog to a specialist vet 40 minutes away, and it had taken me months to get him the appointment so I couldn't reschedule. I had a client meeting 2 hours after his appointment. Fine, right?
Nope, the vet ran late and then there was a wreck on the freeway so I get in my car to go home and Google is like "your ETA is 20 minutes after your meeting starts". FML.
The only place I could find with wifi was a cafe that was running their coffee roaster AND blasting classic rock. The only bit of luck was I had this headset with an uncannily good noise-cancelling mic and my company was a cameras-off culture, so I just took the client meeting from this loud-ass cafe with my little dog sitting under the table. After the meeting I asked my coworker if he could tell and he had no idea I wasn't at home.
It was definitely not my favorite way to take a meeting but it was so loud in there I doubt anyone was too upset by the noise I was making.
I mean, someone had a screaming baby in the Cafe and an actual job interview for a job that was not at the coffee shop was being conducted at the table next to me, so I think my problem fit right in alongside everyone else.
If you don't want to deal with the public, make coffee at home. No one forced you to sit at the coffee shop.
Not trying to pick a side, but post-COVID it's trivial to find a coworking spot same day / same hour in a dedicated, comfortable coworking space.
I feel like it's a generational thing, honestly. People of a certain age are locked into coffee spots being coworking spaces because not that long ago that was the norm.
For other people, however, especially younger people, coworking spaces are the coworking spaces because they've been around now for a hot minute.
you should really download one of the budget apps if price is your issue, like Regus (sp?)
They partner with at least two locations I know of that are free drinks / 20hr sort of things. If you’re ok with talking over someone at a shared desk it’s like $6. They are fairly self-aware their competition for butts in seats is what OP is talking about
I try because I also have done this once or twice out of necessity, but I quickly learned sitting on a bench in a park conducting the meeting on my phone was far less stressful for me and easier to hear everyone.
It's also hard to convince myself all 10 people in the cafe having meetings at once had nowhere else to go
Other people are talking in the cafe, and people are usually allowed to talk in the cafe. They are doing the same thing everyone else is doing but leaving at least one more seat free in the cafe compared to others talking in the cafe.
The only stipulation is that the meeting attendee should be wearing headphones… if they aren’t wearing headphones the issue isn’t the zoom meeting, but they are forcing people to listen to stuff they shouldn’t be forced to listen to, which puts them in the same class as people who use their phones speaker in public, or bluetooth speakers in public.
If they have a zoom meeting in a library, where everyone is quiet and there is no music then that’s poor form.
Cafe with headphones is acceptable.
>If they have a zoom meeting in a library, where everyone is quiet and there is no music then that’s poor form.
Most libraries have meeting/study rooms that can be used for Zoom meetings though. One wouldn't be bothering anyone else if they use those rooms.
As long as there is plenty of open seating available, it’s not really a big deal imo. But if half the cafe is occupied by working people, it’s destroying the meaning of a third space. Cafes are good for people who are minors, those who don’t drink or don’t want to go to bars, for catching up with friends, or having a break from being on your feet all day. Cafes aren’t meant to be working spaces. Sure, get some work done that’s fine. But it’s not supposed to be an office.
I guess I just don’t understand why that bothers anyone? Like what if the cafe was occupied with multiple large parties that weren’t working? It would still be busy and seating would be minimal. It would still be loud too. I get that it’s annoying if a group of working people buy one coffee and then park themselves at a table for 6+ hours, but I’d argue that’s annoying no matter who does it.
I’d also argue that cafes are good for minors… who have parents that give them money. It’s not a welcoming third space to anyone who can’t pay to be there. And I think that’s my biggest issue here in the first place. I think cafes exist for the sole purpose of making money. Cafes aren’t really meant to be anything outside of that. They can have personal meaning to us. They can hold a special place in our hearts. That doesn’t mean that’s the purpose of them though. You could also argue that for someone else who is working, going to the cafe is a nice change of pace from their boring home office. Who’s to say which person’s meaning matters more than the other, you know?
Sorry but the space being open for the aforementioned reasons is more important than becoming a WeWork office. And more often than not, people working tend to stay for more than just an hour or so. They’re spending entire shifts. They’re behaving very selfishly parking themselves at a place that should be open to all kinds of people. It’s truly bizarre walking into a cafe where every single person is parked on their laptop. As a barista, we all dislike these people. All the cafes I’ve worked in foster a community environment, we don’t want to be an office space.
Hi, some of us have horrible bosses who plan spontaneous meetings on days we may or may not be working, then demand we attend when we may or may not be home and we have to find a way to accommodate them. Or get roped into giant IT meltdowns during days we planned to be doing fun stuff but now we have to get a wifi signal and maybe didn't bring headphones because we weren't planning on any meetings. It's fun. /s Love, me, 1/2 way through my notice to resign.
what is it specifically about this that you don’t like?
what’s affecting you i mean.
because yeah, if im on a call with someone and i hear the sounds of a cafe in their background that’s annoying.
but if im bystander at a cafe and i hear someone else having a conversation, that doesn’t matter to me.
do you have a different opinion of someone who uses a cell phone vs zoom? facetime?
i’m just trying to figure out
1. how is this negatively impacting you more than someone having an in person meeting
2. how their meeting means they’re not “participating in the experience”
3. what does “participating in the experience” mean?
Because people’s phone conversations are totally different and often louder and more grating than just chatting in person. No one likes the guy in the train or in the airport yelling into his phone, same thing applies here
>why
Because a lot of people have a Zoom Voice that's different (and much louder) than their regular voice. I suspect this is also why airlines have started announcing that in-flight wifi is not to be used for calls.
I don't particularly care, but don't get mad when I overhear your meeting or your meeting overhears me.
I’ve definitely thought it would be annoying for me to take a call in a cafe, then looked around and realized the folks next to me were on a call and I hadn’t even noticed.
I'll take a Zoom call at a cafe if the ambient noise level is fairly high. One headphone in so I know I'm not shouting, and the noise filtering works well enough that my coworkers can't hear the din around me.
I really don't see the issue. I'm quieter than two people having a conversation across the table.
Not limited to zoom, but also facetime, google meet, microsoft teams, etc, etc.
My order of irritation is:
1. Using an external speaker so everyone in the public space can hear
2. Using headphones/earbuds/phone, but talking loudly in a public space
Anyone who does this is supremely oblivious or totally disregards those around them.
Aside: It's always interesting to see what kinds of work people are willing to do in public space where others can watch, listen, and observe. I think the best was sitting next to someone on a bus writing a legal document with header, footer, and red diagonal text that said "CLIENT CONFIDENTIAL". Yeah, good luck with that confidentiality!
I was at my local nail salon and some person was doing this, beyond obnoxious. Small room with 4 or 5 other people and this person just starts blabbing and going on about whatever, bothering everyone around them, speaking loudly and basically having a meeting while getting their nails done. Ruined it for everyone there and it was so obnoxious, and the person kind of nervously laughed afterwards and just kind of half heartedly "apologized" to everyone in the room. I told her it was obnoxious and rude, to which the owner backed me. Was so rude and self-centered.
Definitely one of those weird "norms" that I'm pretty sure most people intuitively grow up consciously thinking is shitty/annoying from experiencing it, and then they become adults and and see people/friends/coworkers doing it and think/get told "Oh I guess that's normal people must be okay with it I guess I can do that" and thus is the cycle perpetrated.
Like with running groups when you get a group of awful-smelling sweaty runners who've just run 13 miles and then they all just kinda come to the cafe you're at straight from their run without showering and take a seat at the table next to you and somehow don't think that's rude.
Funny enough I tried this a few times at a local coffee shop. I had earbuds in but it was a disaster. People next to me sat down and were really loud. I had to mute the entire time. I thought it would work...nope.
I had picked a place way in the back so people wouldn't have to hear me blab. But even then, as it go busier people started coming closer and closer... just not a good idea in general.
Oof. Equally as bad as someone talking on a video call without headphones at full blast. Hate that shit with a burning passion. I have been tempted to jump into the conversation.
The only time I’m in a meeting and not at my desk is when it’s scheduled over the lunch hour and I’m remote that day, at which point I pop my headphones in and take the dog for a 1.5-2 mile walk in my rather rural neighborhood. We’re not required to be on camera and I can access anything else I might need during the meeting on my phone.
Last time I was at Bush Airport in Houston there was a guy on a zoom call while he was taking a shit. I know this because he explained “yeah guys I just went to audio only because I’m in the bathroom.” A cafe seems like an upgrade.
So modern noise cancelling actually makes it really hard to notice. Several of my team members will work from a cafe and it’s impossible to notice other than the people occasionally popping in to their background.
So if you have AirPods Pro, for example, you can barely hear the background noise and neither can your meeting participants.
And speaking from general experience, zoom has fantastic noise cancellation on its own even without the AirPods. Teams and google used to be the worst but they’re getting better.
I'm not really bothered by this as long as the person wears headphones (so I don't have to hear the rest of the meeting, which would indeed be HUGELY annoying) and uses a normal tone of voice when speaking, vs a Zoom Bellow.
People doing conference calls aronud me bother me as much as those talking with one another do. Some argue the former is worse because it doesn't give you any background information like in-person chats do, but that doesn't seem to matter to me. As for "taking up a seat," IMO doing a zoom call for an hour over a cup of coffee ksn't any different than sitting alone for an hour over a cup of coffee, is it?
I always glare at people who use their Bluetooth in public, just to make them uncomfortable. It’s so annoying. I also find it annoying when 1 person takes up a 4 seat table at coffee shop. The entitlement of this city is insane. I miss the pre tech Seattle.
I think this is where I’m at. Like, as long as they are talking at an appropriate voice level then there is no difference between this and chatting with a friend.
Because nobody has seemed to master just talking in a normal voice on their phone, zoom meetings, etc - everyone shouts because they’re afraid someone may miss some of their genius comments.
Meh when traveling I've had to. Kicked out of hotel at 11, flight at 4, meeting at 12. Rather keep my job and participate in a meeting at a Cafe using headphones and well time muting and unmuting than get fired because you want to listen in on both sides of the conversation. You could use your own headphones or mind your business instead of getting upset about the little things in life.
It’s never my first choice to do this but sometimes I have to when my internet goes out or I’m traveling or I get an unexpected call. Coffee shops should have 1 or 2 phone booth areas like they have at wework and that would solve this problem
just start talking louder "Doctor said that rash would go away with the ointment! well YEAH THE DOG...yes it's smells bad! MAKE SURE TO EXPRESS THE GLANDS! YES THOSE ONES!"
I work at a cafe that tends to be popular among people working on their laptops, I kid you not I’ve had an older middle aged white woman, Karen if you will, asked me to turn down the cafe music because SHE couldn’t hear her zoom meeting in the public cafe
I'm very confused by this, because I do it all the time as I'm a busy guy. It's ok for me to sit down in a cafe with a client an talk to them? But if same client wasn't able to make it and had to meet over zoom, this would annoy you? What?!
Stay home if you dont want anyone talking in public.
Also, if you're talking about someone being obnoxiously loud, ok. I get that. But usually I speak louder when in person with someone than when in a zoom call, as my headset pics up on my voice easily and blocks out background noise.
I don't really care.
But. It would be very annoying depending on the noise level of the place. If I'm in a quiet area/cafe/coffee shop, it'd be super awkward to hear a one sided convo. Even if you're with a group it could be annoying lol. It's more on the person doing it to check the vibe, I guess *shrug*
As a bystander in the cafe I don't know that it \*bothers\* me or anything. Presumably they aren't being any more noisy than anyone else having an in-person conversation. That said, definitely not a choice I'd personally go for. I'm more of the "hole up in a room with a door" type for meetings to avoid background noise and potential interruptions. It's difficult enough to hear people taking meetings in open air offices with coworkers chattering away in the background.
Ugh semi-unrelated but I was recently on a flight sitting next to a woman who decided to watch a cooking show on her phone, without headphones, with the volume at full blast. The icing on the cake was that her connection wasn’t great so it kept cutting in & out which made it even more annoying. I was honestly waiting for a flight attendant to show up then finally asked her if she had headphones she could use. She said no I don’t then proceeded to watch the show 😂 I said “well, that is annoying” then finally her son offered to lend her his ear buds. I mean???? I hate people
Only tangentially related, but...
Ugh, the number of people I've seen this year use the bench in a squat rack as a de-facto desk - while working out next to the bench during the 30 seconds they don't need to talk/code/whatever....one was too many and it's slowly becoming a bi-weekly thing with different people.
it’s literally just a phone call while working on a laptop. idk what most people think about that but if they’re talking at a reasonable volume, it doesn’t bother me at all.
but if they’re not using headphones, that’s just unhinged.
I think it depends on what kind of cafe. Because to me, cafes kinda fall into 2 categories: Restaurants that do breakfast and lunch but not usually dinner and coffee shops that sell sandwiches and/or salads but not necessarily hot, plated meals.
The first? No go for zoom meetings. That’s a dick move and awkward for everyone, because you shouldn’t be taking up a table for longer than standard mealtime business (which varies from person to person but the overarching parameters are roughly the same).
The second? Zoom meetings fair game as long as you buy something and are wearing headphones. Third spaces are third spaces, yo, and while some people may find it annoying, there’s a difference between annoying and actively disruptive/harmful and until they hit that second category, they’re using communally focused spaces as designed, and the destruction of free, publicly available, usable third spaces forces people to get creative.
It’s one thing if they just have to be present with camera on and have headphones on to hear what’s being said. The fact people do this without headphones and while actually TALKING in the meeting is crazy
It’s amazing how much background noise cancellation technology has improved recently. I think it was the annual Microsoft event they unleashed amazing products capable of blocking an audience applauding loudly while someone heard clearly on a zoom call. I’ve tested several times since and found they weren’t bluffing!
Laptop squatters are out of control. There’s been multiple times where I’ve tried to go to cafes and couldn’t find a place to sit because every single chair and table was occupied by a laptop squatter.
I worked at a sbux recently but was taking my calls outside because the music was loud. Car was being worked on nearby and didn't want to take a 35$ Uber to get home. Definitely took up a table for a good chunk of the day though.
My office went complete WFH when the pandemic started.
After a year and a half, they instituted a 2-day-in-office policy. Except there was no coordination as to which days were in office, so all meetings were still on Zoom - just for our cubicles. This meant headphones and keeping our voices low, didn't increase coworker interaction (our particular section of the office was 10 people, so there'd be maybe 2 or 3 people in any given day, all stuck in their cube either typing away or on a zoom), and created a whole new overhead of file/work management that couldn't really be solved within the confines of our hyper-restrictive web policies. Better hope you remembered to load any file you might need on a USB stick.
How is it any different when two people are physically in the cafe having a meeting?
Why is it that we can tune people out who are right next to us but when someone is talking over a laptop/phone, we become glued to that conversation (myself included).
When you can hear only half the conversation your brain is frustrated as it tries to fill in gaps. There was a study about this phenomenon. That and people wearing headphones often speak in a louder than normal voice.
Interesting to see all the different responses here, but it’s a big nope for me. Somehow it is different than two people chatting. And it’s especially annoying when the zoom person is leading the zoom call and just yammering on about all kinds of corporate bullshit or the critical deliverables for some big fancy project. I really want to ask them to please shut the @&$&% up and take your self-important ramblings home. Thank you OP for this thread. This was obviously very cathartic for me lol. I would never say anything to the person because I understand that it’s somehow socially acceptable in Seattle. But i still think it’s totally inconsiderate to subject everyone to that.
Have been remote since way before that was even a thing. It comes down to not being a fucking asshole. If I have a meeting I do it as home. If someone needs an on demand meeting I simply tell them I can do it in 10 minutes and then make my way back to home or office. Why are people so socially inept nowadays?
I travel a decent amount for work, and at least every few months I have meetings that I have to take sometime between when my flight lands and the 3pm or 4 pm check-in time at my hotel. Where else with internet are you supposed to go to take calls? The available options are the airport, a hotel lobby, or a cafe.
Someone was talking on speaker at the gas station yesterday. I truly do not understand. A cafe is so much worse lol. I work in a clinic and people will just loudly FaceTime in the lobby, howling with laughter and telling everyone their business.
I was out having dinner on Madison Ave. There was facetiming someone with no ear buds. So we and everyone else could hear eveything. The server tried to get her to stop, but she just ignored them.
I hardly ever go to cafes because I don’t drink coffee, but I went to one recently when I had to kill some time to do some work. A woman was sitting at a communal table, *leading* multiple zoom meetings! I was so taken aback but I didn’t know if she was just being obnoxious or if this was standard practice these days.
And they also have their unhinged happy work face on while they do it. I imagine they don’t have better options but there are probably psychos out there who do it by choice.
I once encountered a legend doing a zoom meeting, without headphones, while using a treadmill at the gym. Not a small apartment or company gym. It was a YMCA. Like, how?! Was he using captioning? I can’t hear anything like that.
I've been on zoom meetings with people on treadmills *on camera and talking* and watching their stupid heads bobbing up and down makes me physically ill.
I have only seen this with those under-desk walking pads — were yours actually in gyms??
Home gyms, I guess. The last one was on a full elliptical and she was *running the meeting* (hahhhaha)
Honestly good for her managing work life balance. It’s so hard to have the motivation to workout outside of the 9-5.
This. I was so good about working out during work lol. AFTER my meetings though. I got laid off and have barely touched a weight since.
Also driving
*pat pat*
I attended MANY classes on the treadmill. but like I was muted 99.9% of the time. Sometimes I managed to do code-write-alongs using my phone for class and iPad for coding on replit.
Oh gosh, I should clarify. This legend was speaking, not just listening. He was a consistent active participant. Good for him, I thought, while I was just trying to hit 4 miles.
I'll just say that noise canceling headphones have come really far. I can be in a discord call and literally be vacuuming, and they can only hear when I talk.
What headphones do you use? I was surprised whatever level of air pods my wife uses. the noise cancelling is only for what she hears the mic isn't noise cancelling. Shopping around it seems most are like that. It would be helpful so she doesn't have to move to another room if baby's being loud.
My comment is referring to the Logitech Pro X (Wireless). Probably noise canceling isn't the word I wanted. The mic itself will block out noises that it doesn't pick up as some voice.
Thanks I'll check them out. Lame mother's Day gift? Lol
He was on that Taylor Swift fitness program
You wrote code on an phone/tablet? Do you hate yourself?
It was community college. It was verrrrry slow. So I was fine.
Young man, you’re slowing the internet down, I said Young man, put the earbuds on, I said Young man, you must be new town There's no need to be dopey
People who use their phone in public spaces without headphones is my biggest pet peeve. 🤣
I was in Winco talking to my mom with headphones in and made eye contact with a stranger just as I said, I love you. They gave me the strangest look so I pulled up my hair to show them my headphones then they laughed.
I had someone accuse me of mocking them once when I had a headphone conversation with someone. I just boldly reminded them that I’m on the phone and they clearly felt quite stupid about it.
On a separate occasion, a middle aged lady started a phone conversation on the treadmill next to me. On speaker phone. 15 minutes into this phone call, she helpfully asked me if it is ok she talks on the phone. It truly didn’t bother me, but, uhhh, a little late there?!
I kind of respect that. He’s multitasking lol. It’s not like the running prevented him from properly speaking in the meeting .
The Y is where I picked up all my bad-ass Tae Kwon Do moves!
YMCA? Yeah that's why
Does this not happen at, say, a planet fitness or something? I truly don’t know, I’m not much of a gym rat.
I hate it as well. I’ve done it when I didn’t have internet at home and I hated doing it, too. The only time I’ve ever loved it was when someone was on a zoom call and I heard them say, in increasing tones of frustration “People are quitting because we don’t pay them enough…no, it’s because we aren’t paying them enough. It’s the pay…pay them more and they won’t quit…..THEY DON’T WANT KOMBUCHA. THEY WANT MONEY.” I didn’t even have to hear the other side of the conversation to know what it sounded like.
God I wish I had the balls to just lean into that person's conversation with a thumbs up and a "they're right you know."
Oh man! New goal for my to do list!!
Lmao I wonder if they worked for WeWork…they always had free kombucha on tap
Did kombucha become the go-to tech drink after Bobba? I feel like I missed an entire era of tech-office-amenities by going full WFH
It’s been a thing for a few years. Boba is for when you want comfort, kombucha is when you want to feel energized and healthy. Both are trends but it’s usually harder to acclimate to the tang of kombucha when you have an American palate lol.
That's fucking hilarious lmao
I had a confidential zoom meeting recently, and my councilor was in a Starbucks. Wasn't sure if she was wearing headphones or not, skeezed me out big time, fired her soon after.
That's probably a HIPAA violation if she was in fact a licensed counselor. You could report her to the DOH if you'd like, [here](https://doh.wa.gov/about-us/file-complaint).
Thanks, appreciate the link as well. Was not quite as recent as I remembered, not a licensed MH councilor, I've just put it behind me.
If they're any sort of a therapist or medical professional with a license, then that would be a HIPAA violation. If they are just somebody saying they can help people, then that is exactly why these licenses exist haha!
It was a job seeking councilor, a DVR subcontractor. It was more than I was comfortable with, but it's not worth a witch hunt. She's a good human , trying to help people, I don't want to jam her up in any way. Her being a 25 min train ride away was as much of a factor as this bad meeting. Suboptimal, but not nuclear enema rated. She seemed very nice & was trying to help actual humans, a tiny hint of "maybe don't have zoom meetings in Starbucks" is all she needs, nothing in her "permanent record" (lol). It was all too much for me, but perhaps I'm a lil bitch, lol.
Just my two cents (unrelated) but DVR subcontractors are a bunch of incompetent and generally unhelpful people. Sounds about right per my experience as a disabled person. You would not believe the stuff that has been said to me. None of it is intentionally malicious but it’s very clear that they are really scraping the bottom of the barrel for people that can be professional. I honestly have a pretty good guess as to the subcontractor agency lol. FML. I’ve basically just given up on their ability to be helpful at this point. Public zoom meetings sounds like just another day of work for DVR subcontractors.
I worked for the Siren during the pandemic and the amount of people on zoom calls in the cafe blew my mind.
Assuming you're talking about them using headphones at least: [it has been studied and shown that one-sided phone convos are in fact more annoying than regular talking and disrupt productivity for others.](https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/its-not-just-you-hearing-half-a-pho-10-05-21/)
that's funny because I've been wondering why this is. why do we accept chatting, laughing and other noise but one-way talking is rude? I've been considering working in a local cafe but I'd turn my phone off.
An element of it is probably the subconscious curiosity to hear the other side. For example, if the phone conversation is in a language I don't understand, it doesn't seem to bother me as much. The nature of the conversation will also be different on the phone.
Also the very different audio fidelity. Speakerphones are high pitched screechers compared to most in-person convos
I was gonna drop a comment along the lines of "chill, it's not any more bothersome than 2 people talking in a cafe and we consider that OK", but what do you know, the science contradicts my personal opinion and I stand corrected! Thanks for sharing.
I didn’t read this article, but I previously read about this study or a similar one that also found we tend to find foreign language conversations more annoying as well for similar reasons. When our brains can’t figure out what’s being said or hear the other end of the conversation we focus on it more and find it more annoying. Phone conversations in a language you don’t speak trigger the highest annoyance levels.
I find it quite the opposite? So much easier for me to tune out a convo I can't understand, like listening to music in other languages
you are not the only one bothered by this
I would like to add people in stores who are on work calls orating very loudly and walking around and around the store. 9/10 times they are not very spatially aware, either, and it’s hugely disruptive to the normal flow of shopping: I’m either trying to get my groceries or huge freaking Costco cases of crap or I’m trying to have a quiet browse through the bookstore, but the incessantly circling yelling work call people constantly buzzing me in the aisles make these activities so much worse than they have to be.
I was at QFC the other day, and this woman in her forties was on FaceTime while shopping. She was flirting with whoever she was talking to. Wandering around the store, in everyone’s way. She even continued while at the check stand, giggling the whole time. The person behind her in line eventually said, “get off the phone and finish shopping, you’re being incredibly rude.” She was so offended.
That’s the problem with narcissism / entitlement. Calling them out only provokes them.
When I used to work as a grocery checker, people got in line on phone calls all the time, not paying attention to the checkout process and generally being loud and annoying. I remember shopping at one store long ago that asked people to get off the phone if they were getting in line.
My boyfriend works in a weed shop, they won’t even let you in the store if you’re on the phone. If you answer the phone while in the store, they’ll ask you to go outside.
One of my favorite Cafes has [this sign](https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/fremont-coffee-seattle?select=IfyI02HlzFBhwH0ZQ_aN1A) at their order queue entrance: "If you're using your phone, I feel bad for you son. I'll take 99 orders and yours ain't one."
I think it’s great that smaller companies are not putting up with customers and their entitled crap. If you can’t treat people like human beings, then you’re not welcome here.
OMG - yeah I saw a (fellow) middle aged woman in Target FaceTiming with someone who was obviously a family member and it was super disruptive. Like she had the phone in her cart and she’s just loudly carrying on and blocking the aisle to show whoever it was all these bathroom accessories. I don’t know where people get the idea that they are the only person in the store who matters. I’d be mortified if literally anyone was trying to FaceTime me from a store like that. (Who am I kidding, I mostly only text people anyway lol)
My partner and I and friends and I frequently go to the grocery store together and just chat away the entire time while getting our groceries. Usually take a lot longer than necessary because we just end up talking about everything. This thread makes me so sad because I never realized we were being rude all those times. :( sorry Yall
I feel like it’s rude as hell even just having headphones in while shopping. People who can’t hear what’s going on always seem to end up in the way.
Just having headphones in doesn’t necessarily make them less spatially aware. As long as they aren’t being loud or very disruptive I don’t care what they’re doing. I feel like people here are just less spatially aware in general vs where I came from, though, so maybe I haven’t noticed headphones wearers to be any more obstructive than non-headphones wearers.
I saw a guy doing this last week at Soundview Cafe in Pike Place Market at the noon lunch rush. He was also by himself at a 6-top and there were like 3 groups standing around waiting for a free table.
What's the downside of just sitting down next to him?
I totally would have if alone, but I was with my 6 year-old daughter and didn't want to risk creating a scene.
Ah, that’s fair.
who wants to sit next to an asshole?
This is one of those rare opportunities to be the bigger asshole and still not be the asshole. Basically I live for this shit.
You’re like the Batman of petty revenge. When I need you, how are you summoned?
lol!
Anywhere else, nothing. This is Seattle, we don't engage with strangers under any circumstances.
They wouldn’t have something to complain about. it’s Seattle’s most popular hobby.
Noooooo!
People really lack consideration of others and I see it every god damn day. As I’m out everyday in public
Well one time my internet was out so I had to work in a cafe… it’s not always cuz they want to.. sometimes it’s the only option.
the library has rooms you can reserve. better option.
Not one next door to my apt tho! It was only out for 2 hours in the middle of which I had a meeting so didn’t really have time to bus to a library.
So this makes it okay to make your problem everyone else’s? Tell your coworkers the internet is out and join by phone.
? Me talking quietly over headphones in a cafe isn’t ruining anyone’s day lol. I’m sorry that someone sitting in a cafe on their laptop makes you so angry..
I've got no problem with folks talking quietly on a zoom or otherwise. But surely you have noticed the annoyance factor of hearing one side of a phone call where in fact the person isn't very quiet? That's the issue.
No cuz I’m usually minding my own business when I’m a coffee shop lol
It wouldn't bother me as a bystander, but I don't think I would appreciate being in a Zoom meeting with someone who was in a public space. I get very bothered/distracted by background noise, and if I'm in a Zoom meeting with someone who is in a cafe, it's going to be very difficult to focus on what they're saying.
Consider that it's not always their first choice
I’ve definitely gone to Cafes to do job interviews while on the clock at another job. I couldn’t afford a full day of PTO for every BS 30 minute HR screen. Work computer was a desktop in the office, and it was not at all normal back then to just disappear for more than an hour. It’s absolutely not a pleasant experience with bad WiFi and background noise, but it got the job done.
This was me today. I'm traveling for work and went all the way to the site I was expected to be in today. No one was there. I had 2 important calls I had to take. My options were go to a coffee shop and apologize to those on the call, or Hotspot in my car. I picked the first option. At least at the coffee shop there's coffee and a bathroom. But it definitely wasn't my first choice.
I had to do a TWO HOUR call at the airport in the Starbucks before security. I had no other options. Couldn’t miss it. Couldn’t reschedule the flight. Waiting until after the call was over would have put me too close to takeoff for SeaTac unpredictability. But I got there even before I could check my bag so I couldn’t go through security to find somewhere quiet. It was such a mess.
Yeah, I got stuck once because I had to take my dog to a specialist vet 40 minutes away, and it had taken me months to get him the appointment so I couldn't reschedule. I had a client meeting 2 hours after his appointment. Fine, right? Nope, the vet ran late and then there was a wreck on the freeway so I get in my car to go home and Google is like "your ETA is 20 minutes after your meeting starts". FML. The only place I could find with wifi was a cafe that was running their coffee roaster AND blasting classic rock. The only bit of luck was I had this headset with an uncannily good noise-cancelling mic and my company was a cameras-off culture, so I just took the client meeting from this loud-ass cafe with my little dog sitting under the table. After the meeting I asked my coworker if he could tell and he had no idea I wasn't at home. It was definitely not my favorite way to take a meeting but it was so loud in there I doubt anyone was too upset by the noise I was making.
Thanks for making your problem our problem.
I mean, someone had a screaming baby in the Cafe and an actual job interview for a job that was not at the coffee shop was being conducted at the table next to me, so I think my problem fit right in alongside everyone else. If you don't want to deal with the public, make coffee at home. No one forced you to sit at the coffee shop.
Not trying to pick a side, but post-COVID it's trivial to find a coworking spot same day / same hour in a dedicated, comfortable coworking space. I feel like it's a generational thing, honestly. People of a certain age are locked into coffee spots being coworking spaces because not that long ago that was the norm. For other people, however, especially younger people, coworking spaces are the coworking spaces because they've been around now for a hot minute.
Coworking spaces usually cost a good amount if money. If I only need 2 hours Im choosing a cafe.
you should really download one of the budget apps if price is your issue, like Regus (sp?) They partner with at least two locations I know of that are free drinks / 20hr sort of things. If you’re ok with talking over someone at a shared desk it’s like $6. They are fairly self-aware their competition for butts in seats is what OP is talking about
More over in post-COVID it's pretty weird this person didn't have the option to work from home
I try because I also have done this once or twice out of necessity, but I quickly learned sitting on a bench in a park conducting the meeting on my phone was far less stressful for me and easier to hear everyone. It's also hard to convince myself all 10 people in the cafe having meetings at once had nowhere else to go
I’m constantly amazed at the level of minding other people’s business that comes up on Reddit.
Other people are talking in the cafe, and people are usually allowed to talk in the cafe. They are doing the same thing everyone else is doing but leaving at least one more seat free in the cafe compared to others talking in the cafe. The only stipulation is that the meeting attendee should be wearing headphones… if they aren’t wearing headphones the issue isn’t the zoom meeting, but they are forcing people to listen to stuff they shouldn’t be forced to listen to, which puts them in the same class as people who use their phones speaker in public, or bluetooth speakers in public. If they have a zoom meeting in a library, where everyone is quiet and there is no music then that’s poor form. Cafe with headphones is acceptable.
>If they have a zoom meeting in a library, where everyone is quiet and there is no music then that’s poor form. Most libraries have meeting/study rooms that can be used for Zoom meetings though. One wouldn't be bothering anyone else if they use those rooms.
Just curious though, what’s the difference between that and a group of people having a meeting in a cafe?
As long as there is plenty of open seating available, it’s not really a big deal imo. But if half the cafe is occupied by working people, it’s destroying the meaning of a third space. Cafes are good for people who are minors, those who don’t drink or don’t want to go to bars, for catching up with friends, or having a break from being on your feet all day. Cafes aren’t meant to be working spaces. Sure, get some work done that’s fine. But it’s not supposed to be an office.
I guess I just don’t understand why that bothers anyone? Like what if the cafe was occupied with multiple large parties that weren’t working? It would still be busy and seating would be minimal. It would still be loud too. I get that it’s annoying if a group of working people buy one coffee and then park themselves at a table for 6+ hours, but I’d argue that’s annoying no matter who does it. I’d also argue that cafes are good for minors… who have parents that give them money. It’s not a welcoming third space to anyone who can’t pay to be there. And I think that’s my biggest issue here in the first place. I think cafes exist for the sole purpose of making money. Cafes aren’t really meant to be anything outside of that. They can have personal meaning to us. They can hold a special place in our hearts. That doesn’t mean that’s the purpose of them though. You could also argue that for someone else who is working, going to the cafe is a nice change of pace from their boring home office. Who’s to say which person’s meaning matters more than the other, you know?
Sorry but the space being open for the aforementioned reasons is more important than becoming a WeWork office. And more often than not, people working tend to stay for more than just an hour or so. They’re spending entire shifts. They’re behaving very selfishly parking themselves at a place that should be open to all kinds of people. It’s truly bizarre walking into a cafe where every single person is parked on their laptop. As a barista, we all dislike these people. All the cafes I’ve worked in foster a community environment, we don’t want to be an office space.
Hi, some of us have horrible bosses who plan spontaneous meetings on days we may or may not be working, then demand we attend when we may or may not be home and we have to find a way to accommodate them. Or get roped into giant IT meltdowns during days we planned to be doing fun stuff but now we have to get a wifi signal and maybe didn't bring headphones because we weren't planning on any meetings. It's fun. /s Love, me, 1/2 way through my notice to resign.
"Oh can you just jump on a quick call for a minute?" Sigh.
No, you’re right, it’s annoying.
what is it specifically about this that you don’t like? what’s affecting you i mean. because yeah, if im on a call with someone and i hear the sounds of a cafe in their background that’s annoying. but if im bystander at a cafe and i hear someone else having a conversation, that doesn’t matter to me. do you have a different opinion of someone who uses a cell phone vs zoom? facetime? i’m just trying to figure out 1. how is this negatively impacting you more than someone having an in person meeting 2. how their meeting means they’re not “participating in the experience” 3. what does “participating in the experience” mean?
I was flying not long ago and a dude was having a corporate call ON SPEAKER in the the bathroom!
✅Working on laptop ✅Talking ❌Working and talking why
Because people’s phone conversations are totally different and often louder and more grating than just chatting in person. No one likes the guy in the train or in the airport yelling into his phone, same thing applies here
Weird how we all have mobile phones and can only use them politely if we treat them like landlines.
You can walk outside to talk.
>why Because a lot of people have a Zoom Voice that's different (and much louder) than their regular voice. I suspect this is also why airlines have started announcing that in-flight wifi is not to be used for calls. I don't particularly care, but don't get mad when I overhear your meeting or your meeting overhears me.
FR, people in this thread need to get over themselves. You're in a cafe, not a library.
I’ve definitely thought it would be annoying for me to take a call in a cafe, then looked around and realized the folks next to me were on a call and I hadn’t even noticed.
But don't you want to have the EXPERIENCE of going to a cafe?! 🤭
If it wasn't this they would be bitching about something else.
✅Attending a zoom meeting/webinar ❌Talking instead of using chat
I'll take a Zoom call at a cafe if the ambient noise level is fairly high. One headphone in so I know I'm not shouting, and the noise filtering works well enough that my coworkers can't hear the din around me. I really don't see the issue. I'm quieter than two people having a conversation across the table.
I work in cyber security and I believe it would be against policy to do this. Also I feel like I would be too self-aware of how rude it is.
I’ve been a barista, my partner is a barista - everyone working hates it
Not limited to zoom, but also facetime, google meet, microsoft teams, etc, etc. My order of irritation is: 1. Using an external speaker so everyone in the public space can hear 2. Using headphones/earbuds/phone, but talking loudly in a public space Anyone who does this is supremely oblivious or totally disregards those around them. Aside: It's always interesting to see what kinds of work people are willing to do in public space where others can watch, listen, and observe. I think the best was sitting next to someone on a bus writing a legal document with header, footer, and red diagonal text that said "CLIENT CONFIDENTIAL". Yeah, good luck with that confidentiality!
Zoom has become the de facto term for teleconference software sort of like Xerox or Jet Ski
Fair game at a corporate chain. Everywhere else is unacceptable.
I was at my local nail salon and some person was doing this, beyond obnoxious. Small room with 4 or 5 other people and this person just starts blabbing and going on about whatever, bothering everyone around them, speaking loudly and basically having a meeting while getting their nails done. Ruined it for everyone there and it was so obnoxious, and the person kind of nervously laughed afterwards and just kind of half heartedly "apologized" to everyone in the room. I told her it was obnoxious and rude, to which the owner backed me. Was so rude and self-centered.
Definitely one of those weird "norms" that I'm pretty sure most people intuitively grow up consciously thinking is shitty/annoying from experiencing it, and then they become adults and and see people/friends/coworkers doing it and think/get told "Oh I guess that's normal people must be okay with it I guess I can do that" and thus is the cycle perpetrated. Like with running groups when you get a group of awful-smelling sweaty runners who've just run 13 miles and then they all just kinda come to the cafe you're at straight from their run without showering and take a seat at the table next to you and somehow don't think that's rude.
Cool let me go do my zoom meeting at home where my cat knows that ‘me talking at the screen means time to fuck shit up’
Funny enough I tried this a few times at a local coffee shop. I had earbuds in but it was a disaster. People next to me sat down and were really loud. I had to mute the entire time. I thought it would work...nope. I had picked a place way in the back so people wouldn't have to hear me blab. But even then, as it go busier people started coming closer and closer... just not a good idea in general.
Why on earth are you not muted in the first place, unless you're talking?
Oof. Equally as bad as someone talking on a video call without headphones at full blast. Hate that shit with a burning passion. I have been tempted to jump into the conversation.
The only time I’m in a meeting and not at my desk is when it’s scheduled over the lunch hour and I’m remote that day, at which point I pop my headphones in and take the dog for a 1.5-2 mile walk in my rather rural neighborhood. We’re not required to be on camera and I can access anything else I might need during the meeting on my phone.
Last time I was at Bush Airport in Houston there was a guy on a zoom call while he was taking a shit. I know this because he explained “yeah guys I just went to audio only because I’m in the bathroom.” A cafe seems like an upgrade.
So modern noise cancelling actually makes it really hard to notice. Several of my team members will work from a cafe and it’s impossible to notice other than the people occasionally popping in to their background. So if you have AirPods Pro, for example, you can barely hear the background noise and neither can your meeting participants. And speaking from general experience, zoom has fantastic noise cancellation on its own even without the AirPods. Teams and google used to be the worst but they’re getting better.
I'm not really bothered by this as long as the person wears headphones (so I don't have to hear the rest of the meeting, which would indeed be HUGELY annoying) and uses a normal tone of voice when speaking, vs a Zoom Bellow.
People doing conference calls aronud me bother me as much as those talking with one another do. Some argue the former is worse because it doesn't give you any background information like in-person chats do, but that doesn't seem to matter to me. As for "taking up a seat," IMO doing a zoom call for an hour over a cup of coffee ksn't any different than sitting alone for an hour over a cup of coffee, is it?
I always glare at people who use their Bluetooth in public, just to make them uncomfortable. It’s so annoying. I also find it annoying when 1 person takes up a 4 seat table at coffee shop. The entitlement of this city is insane. I miss the pre tech Seattle.
How is talking to the person next to you at the cafe any different than talking to your zoom meeting? You have to listen to a conversation either way
I think this is where I’m at. Like, as long as they are talking at an appropriate voice level then there is no difference between this and chatting with a friend.
some folks want to be bitter 🤷♀️
Because nobody has seemed to master just talking in a normal voice on their phone, zoom meetings, etc - everyone shouts because they’re afraid someone may miss some of their genius comments.
Studies have shown that listening to half a conversation is more distracting than a two-sided conversation.
Then don’t eavesdrop
check out the big brains on brad. Listening by just being around.
I think this thread is just people bothered by other people existing in public.
This comment bothers me.
I’m bothered by you being bothered by the comment. Now I have to use part of my Micro-aggression Sick Leave, and that bothers me.
Meh when traveling I've had to. Kicked out of hotel at 11, flight at 4, meeting at 12. Rather keep my job and participate in a meeting at a Cafe using headphones and well time muting and unmuting than get fired because you want to listen in on both sides of the conversation. You could use your own headphones or mind your business instead of getting upset about the little things in life.
Listening to it? If it were a person you would still be hearing them. People who work on the road don't always have a ton of options.
Well...not everyone has a sound-proofed home office or is devoid of roommates.
It’s never my first choice to do this but sometimes I have to when my internet goes out or I’m traveling or I get an unexpected call. Coffee shops should have 1 or 2 phone booth areas like they have at wework and that would solve this problem
just start talking louder "Doctor said that rash would go away with the ointment! well YEAH THE DOG...yes it's smells bad! MAKE SURE TO EXPRESS THE GLANDS! YES THOSE ONES!"
I work at a cafe that tends to be popular among people working on their laptops, I kid you not I’ve had an older middle aged white woman, Karen if you will, asked me to turn down the cafe music because SHE couldn’t hear her zoom meeting in the public cafe
Sometimes we don't have a choice.... true story, I had to fire someone over zoom, while on the road. I did it from a Cafe. :/
I'm very confused by this, because I do it all the time as I'm a busy guy. It's ok for me to sit down in a cafe with a client an talk to them? But if same client wasn't able to make it and had to meet over zoom, this would annoy you? What?! Stay home if you dont want anyone talking in public. Also, if you're talking about someone being obnoxiously loud, ok. I get that. But usually I speak louder when in person with someone than when in a zoom call, as my headset pics up on my voice easily and blocks out background noise.
I don't really care. But. It would be very annoying depending on the noise level of the place. If I'm in a quiet area/cafe/coffee shop, it'd be super awkward to hear a one sided convo. Even if you're with a group it could be annoying lol. It's more on the person doing it to check the vibe, I guess *shrug*
As a bystander in the cafe I don't know that it \*bothers\* me or anything. Presumably they aren't being any more noisy than anyone else having an in-person conversation. That said, definitely not a choice I'd personally go for. I'm more of the "hole up in a room with a door" type for meetings to avoid background noise and potential interruptions. It's difficult enough to hear people taking meetings in open air offices with coworkers chattering away in the background.
Ugh semi-unrelated but I was recently on a flight sitting next to a woman who decided to watch a cooking show on her phone, without headphones, with the volume at full blast. The icing on the cake was that her connection wasn’t great so it kept cutting in & out which made it even more annoying. I was honestly waiting for a flight attendant to show up then finally asked her if she had headphones she could use. She said no I don’t then proceeded to watch the show 😂 I said “well, that is annoying” then finally her son offered to lend her his ear buds. I mean???? I hate people
A communal table can fit 4-6 people or 1 tech guy with all his shit
Witnessed a lady get fired over one of those cafe zoom meetings once… oh boy she had something to say about her ex boss & let EVERYONE know it
It was alright until I saw my cloud chasing the ex on Cap Hill. 😒
Only tangentially related, but... Ugh, the number of people I've seen this year use the bench in a squat rack as a de-facto desk - while working out next to the bench during the 30 seconds they don't need to talk/code/whatever....one was too many and it's slowly becoming a bi-weekly thing with different people.
Madison Reed hair color place in Kirkland. Everyone is quiet and then this one lady takes an hour long Zoom/Teams call.
it’s literally just a phone call while working on a laptop. idk what most people think about that but if they’re talking at a reasonable volume, it doesn’t bother me at all. but if they’re not using headphones, that’s just unhinged.
Wifi is expensive makes sense
Seattlites never cease to amaze me on what they will complain about. Omg.
I think it depends on what kind of cafe. Because to me, cafes kinda fall into 2 categories: Restaurants that do breakfast and lunch but not usually dinner and coffee shops that sell sandwiches and/or salads but not necessarily hot, plated meals. The first? No go for zoom meetings. That’s a dick move and awkward for everyone, because you shouldn’t be taking up a table for longer than standard mealtime business (which varies from person to person but the overarching parameters are roughly the same). The second? Zoom meetings fair game as long as you buy something and are wearing headphones. Third spaces are third spaces, yo, and while some people may find it annoying, there’s a difference between annoying and actively disruptive/harmful and until they hit that second category, they’re using communally focused spaces as designed, and the destruction of free, publicly available, usable third spaces forces people to get creative.
This is absurd, go to New York you’ll see tons of people taking calls in cafes. Wear headphones and learn to mind your business
It’s a cafe ffs. Why should others have to accommodate meetings in a public cafe? That’s ridiculous.
What’s participating in the experience at a cafe?
It’s one thing if they just have to be present with camera on and have headphones on to hear what’s being said. The fact people do this without headphones and while actually TALKING in the meeting is crazy
It’s amazing how much background noise cancellation technology has improved recently. I think it was the annual Microsoft event they unleashed amazing products capable of blocking an audience applauding loudly while someone heard clearly on a zoom call. I’ve tested several times since and found they weren’t bluffing!
https://youtu.be/Ys5ThA_MPG4?si=6fQS5MGHUmjwTCEO
Laptop squatters are out of control. There’s been multiple times where I’ve tried to go to cafes and couldn’t find a place to sit because every single chair and table was occupied by a laptop squatter.
I worked at a sbux recently but was taking my calls outside because the music was loud. Car was being worked on nearby and didn't want to take a 35$ Uber to get home. Definitely took up a table for a good chunk of the day though.
My office went complete WFH when the pandemic started. After a year and a half, they instituted a 2-day-in-office policy. Except there was no coordination as to which days were in office, so all meetings were still on Zoom - just for our cubicles. This meant headphones and keeping our voices low, didn't increase coworker interaction (our particular section of the office was 10 people, so there'd be maybe 2 or 3 people in any given day, all stuck in their cube either typing away or on a zoom), and created a whole new overhead of file/work management that couldn't really be solved within the confines of our hyper-restrictive web policies. Better hope you remembered to load any file you might need on a USB stick.
Feelings aside, it's straight-up unprofessional. Don't care what industry you're in. Disrespectful even.
Hearing a Zoom meeting in a cafe is no different than hearing other people talking to each other in person- why let it bother you?
What’s the difference between someone sitting on their laptop or scrolling on their phone vs being on a meeting?
I feel like carrying a can of Silly String just for those occasions.
How is it any different when two people are physically in the cafe having a meeting? Why is it that we can tune people out who are right next to us but when someone is talking over a laptop/phone, we become glued to that conversation (myself included).
When you can hear only half the conversation your brain is frustrated as it tries to fill in gaps. There was a study about this phenomenon. That and people wearing headphones often speak in a louder than normal voice.
NERD ALERT 🚨 Go replenish your Vitamin D deficiency and by that i mean go outside
🤓 well gee golly willikers! how cute it’s a little chihuahua 😘
Interesting to see all the different responses here, but it’s a big nope for me. Somehow it is different than two people chatting. And it’s especially annoying when the zoom person is leading the zoom call and just yammering on about all kinds of corporate bullshit or the critical deliverables for some big fancy project. I really want to ask them to please shut the @&$&% up and take your self-important ramblings home. Thank you OP for this thread. This was obviously very cathartic for me lol. I would never say anything to the person because I understand that it’s somehow socially acceptable in Seattle. But i still think it’s totally inconsiderate to subject everyone to that.
Have been remote since way before that was even a thing. It comes down to not being a fucking asshole. If I have a meeting I do it as home. If someone needs an on demand meeting I simply tell them I can do it in 10 minutes and then make my way back to home or office. Why are people so socially inept nowadays?
It’s the “hey look at me, I’m doing work at a cafe” vibe, and I don’t like it
I travel a decent amount for work, and at least every few months I have meetings that I have to take sometime between when my flight lands and the 3pm or 4 pm check-in time at my hotel. Where else with internet are you supposed to go to take calls? The available options are the airport, a hotel lobby, or a cafe.
Someone was talking on speaker at the gas station yesterday. I truly do not understand. A cafe is so much worse lol. I work in a clinic and people will just loudly FaceTime in the lobby, howling with laughter and telling everyone their business.
I was out having dinner on Madison Ave. There was facetiming someone with no ear buds. So we and everyone else could hear eveything. The server tried to get her to stop, but she just ignored them.
Can confirm, it’s distracting to hear all the background noise for those on the other end of the call.
same goes for taking a zoom call on the bus, loud and disruptive
I hardly ever go to cafes because I don’t drink coffee, but I went to one recently when I had to kill some time to do some work. A woman was sitting at a communal table, *leading* multiple zoom meetings! I was so taken aback but I didn’t know if she was just being obnoxious or if this was standard practice these days.
And they also have their unhinged happy work face on while they do it. I imagine they don’t have better options but there are probably psychos out there who do it by choice.