Cafes and restaurants are sprinkled around Massachusetts, bringing people from all over New England to find and try local favorites and discover new dishes and drinks. But, within these mixes of people come, lingerers, those who remain seated or standing for hours on end instead of dining and leaving.

Cafe and restaurant lingering is ok: in moderation.

When choosing to spend time within an establishment, it’s important to acknowledge how long you should stay. A regular experience would be ordering food, sitting, chatting, eating then leaving (this varies depending on the place).

When someone chooses to spend an extended period within an establishment (an hour and a half or longer), this can cause major disruption in the workplace and for other customers.

Seats that could be used by passing customers are now unavailable. A fourtop is being taken up by a single person leaving those who need it stranded. 

Not only does lingering take up space, but it also can be a nuisance. A rowdy crowd planning to spend three hours in a restaurant can disrupt the people and workers around them. A college student spending hours on end staying seated can prevent others from using that table.

Not all cafes and restaurants lingering is bad though, some who linger tend to keep ordering food or drinks which is good for revenue, and those who aren’t disruptive and disorderly are not bad. 

Lingering in cafes and restaurants is alright, as long as it’s done respectfully and only for a limited amount of time. It’s good to be mindful of others and the staff who work there and understand that spending a lengthened amount of time in an establishment is not good.