Eating Own Food In A Cafe

[ichkeria]

Eating my own sandwich (with a locally purchased drink) in a local Tesco cafe today I was "told off" by the (presumably manager) as there is a sign up saying only food purchased on the premises etc. etc.
It later transpired that the lady who serves me at the till every day had obviously "shopped me" which I was a bit disappointed to discover as I go in there quite a lot for a drink (and eat nothing).

Are they being a little petty? I understand that they don't want to lose money but (aside from the point that it's rarely a choice between one's own food and theirs anyway for most people in practice) the cafe was practically empty.

Anyway tomorrow I will get my revenge by paying for my 70p milk shake with a £20 note :-)

[boxtops]

Doesn't matter who runs the café - it's not allowed anywhere that I know of.

[DTCwordfan]

So what happens if you take say a bottle of your fav Vindaloo sauce or Tommy K into a caff or restaurant, order the food and when it comes, you whip the bottle out and start smearing the food with it.

Imagine that at Michel Roux's....

[humbersloop]

just out of curiosity, why did you have a sandwich with you?

[DTCwordfan]

she probably bought it in Tesco's....

[DTCwordfan]

sorry he..........

[paddywak]

Until she passed away a few years ago, a mate of mine and his wife ran a cafe in the town and when they took it over he was always moaning about this sort of thing but he cured it by banning anybody he caught unless they'd got a dam good reason for using there own food. The thing that really got him going though was when people used to stroll in use the toilet and then stroll out again, when he started locking it and just letting patrons use it, it was unbelievable the number of arguments he had with non customers demanding the key and telling him he had "no right" to refuse access to the loo just because it was in his cafe.

[ichkeria]

A couple of people have asked why I had a sandwich with me in the first place.
I'm not sure if that's a serious question (!) but believe it or not the answer to that question is because I intended to eat it. (And it wasn't in my back pocket!)
I plead guilty therefore to malice aforethought, premeditated crime or whatever :-)

When I referred to the "hostility" of the replies I used the wrong word really - "vehemence" probably sums it up better. But I seem to have united the good burghers of Answerback-on-the Wold and I accept the verdict of the court with grace :-)

And yes I know I am also being petty in my response tomorrow, but sometimes well :-)

[wildwood]

There may also be an insurance issue. It is not unknown for people to suffer an sudden illness when eating, even choking. While you may not choose to claim from the cafe, your brief certainly will try.

[ichkeria]

"There may also be an insurance issue. It is not unknown for people to suffer an sudden illness when eating, even choking. While you may not choose to claim from the cafe, your brief certainly will try. "

This is the point at which I make the predictable response that one reason I don't eat the food in this classy establishment is in fact to avoid that scenario (!)

[EcclesCake]

Yet you visit the aforementioned 'classy establishment' on a daily basis????

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

OK so the story as I see it is this:
You went into Tesco Cafe and ate your own sandwich. You were told off for this.
You think the lady at the till shopped you which is a shame because you spend 70p on a drink almost daily.
Firstly, it doesn't matter if it was once or 20 times. What you did was rude and unacceptable.
Secondly, 70p a day? How long do you spend there on average? Keeps your household heating bills down a bit nicely I bet.
Lastly, how dare you throw a strop and demand things your way, either with them or with us. Just who exactly do you think you are when you think the rules should apply to you only?

[ichkeria]

"Yet you visit the aforementioned 'classy establishment' on a daily basis???? "

Not every day M'Lud, but quite often.
My previous comment was intended, as I admitted, as a bit of mild humour.

[ichkeria]

"What you did was rude and unacceptable.
Secondly, 70p a day? How long do you spend there on average? Keeps your household heating bills down a bit nicely I bet.
Lastly, how dare you throw a strop and demand things your way, either with them or with us. Just who exactly do you think you are when you think the rules should apply to you only? "

Funnily enough, JoJo, I did wonder if they were a bit cross because I only ever buy a 70p milk shake. I often get a rather crestfallen "is that all" when I go to the till. Still, I think I would defend myself on that one.
By the way I'm sorry if you think I'm "throwing a strop" and I apologise to anyone else who thinks the same. I'm just trying to gauge opinion in a calm fashion.

[Canary42]

// as a bit of mild humour //

Then you should have posted in Jokes or ChatterBank. Other threads are (usually) for serious questions.

[EcclesCake]

I was only quoting your OP ichkeria.

You are in the wrong and your silly, petty response of tendering a £20.00 note is likely to go unnoticed.

[ichkeria]

Aaargh! It was a serious question!
The "joke" I was referring to was the bit about choking!

Seriously folks :-)

[just_George]

Im a coeliac and if Im out for the day I have to take my own food. I would buy a take away coffee and eat outdoors. If with my family they buy the food and we sit somewhere quiet (usually with me tucked in the corner) I would be uncomfortable using anyones premises to eat my own food. Will say that nowadays vast majority of cafe and fast food places do try to cater for special diets

[Iluvspikey]

Put it this way if you had a cafe, and people bought their own stuff in there to eat and drink, you'd soon moan!

[ichkeria]

Eccles my question says "quite a lot" as it happens.

I've already admitted that I am in the wrong, and that my response is equally petty. Short of donating a sum equivalent to all those 70p milkshakes to the charity of Answerbank's choice i am not sure what else I can do :-)

[Canary42]

Sorry ich. I misunderstood.