Freeloaders?

Posted by Gavin Bowman on Sunday, May 28, 2006 at 1:11 PM

Seth Godin posts (The Freeloader Problem) about a guy enjoying his McDonalds at a table in a busy Starbucks, because it's nicer.

I don't know if it's a British thing, but whenever I've been in the US it's taken me a while to get used to the idea that I'm even allowed to take a coffee from Starbucks into another cafe or vice-versa. After a few months it almost seemed natural, but I still felt like I should hide my cup on the way in... and always needed to buy something from the second place, or at least be with someone else who had.

I guess we figure out our own lines and decide for ourselves what's acceptable. If I'm with a customer I feel like it's okay, if I was paying for their wifi I'd feel like it was okay. What if I bought my coffee there everyday on the way to work, then decided I'd like to eat my McDonalds lunch there too?

Well, I still couldn't do that, but it doesn't seem like so big a leap...

2 Comments:

Keith Casey said...: I often meet customers, etc at local Starbucks, etc for things. Between the wireless access and the menu which everyone knows, it really works well.

Though, I make a point of ordering something every single time. I figure that if I'm using their space, they should get some compensation.

I remember in college once, some friends and I went to a Chinese restaurant which had a Hardees nearby. Some didn't want Chinese, so they went to the Hardees and then joined us afterwards. A couple other customers were obviously annoyed, but about half of us had paid, so we didn't worry about it much.; 3:06 PM
Gavin Bowman said...: Good point, a new menu can play havoc with the start of a meeting!

Although it seemed weird to me that all the mixing and matching was okay, it does seem to make perfect sense for everyone involved. It's great having the freedom to choose.

I don't eat out that often here in the UK, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to be told I couldn't take a Starbucks cup into some other cafe, even if I was planning to eat there.; 4:24 PM