S’pore Students Collectively Felt They’re Entitled to Study in Cafe in Reddit Thread

Hogging seats at places like Starbucks and Coffee Bean has been a point of contention for many, many years.

With Circuit Breaker and Covid-19, the issue has been put on a backburner for quite some time because no one’s allowed to go out anyway.

But as Singapore progresses back to normalcy, or as normal as it can get amidst the pandemic, the topic has cropped up again, this time on Reddit.

S’pore Students Collectively Felt They’re Entitled to Study in Café in Reddit Thread

In a Reddit thread started two days ago in subreddit SGExams, a netizen ranted about how annoying some cafes or Starbucks can get when they chase students away from their empty premises.

Pointing out that people with pen and paper are chased away while office workers with laptops are not, the OP lamented that the attitude of the staff changes depending on who they’re speaking with.

If it’s a student, they’ll be “very rude”, and when it’s an adult, their tone  “just flips 180 degrees”.

Cue Enthusiastic Response

Turns out, the OP wasn’t the only one who felt this way.

Plenty of students turned up with their own stories, including one who was chased away despite seeing another person mugging at the table just beside his/hers:

Others reported similar experiences regarding the laptop vs pen and paper rule:

A commenter or two, though, said that it’s not universal across Singapore; it all depends on which outlet you’re going to:

Differing Opinions

Not all felt the same way, though.

Some thought that the Covid-19 pandemic might’ve contributed to the “No Studying/Loitering” rule

Including one who has friends working in Starbucks and was allegedly told that it’s the instructions from the management:

Several Redditors also asked the students to make their way to the library to study, or to do it at home.

What Do You Think?

On one hand, cafes like Starbucks and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf are businesses which depend on selling food and coffee to make a living.

Having student hoggers seat themselves within the premises for 7 hours straight on a single cup of coffee isn’t the most financially viable option out there.

On the other hand, however, students are tired of being singled out while there are many other groups of people who hog seats as well, from freelancers to insurance aunties hoping to close a deal.

Even the Singapore Kindness Movement wrote a post to support the students in hogging seats, which you can read about here.

And of course, there’s the Covid-19 factor which (kind of) limits everything about life in general, not just studying at cafes.

What do you think about the entire situation? Are these students being self-entitled strawberries or is there merit in what they say?

You can read the full Reddit thread here.

Featured Image: dodotone / Shutterstock.com & Reddit