Last weekend, a friend and I went for a coffee and a catch up on a Saturday in a packed café. We ordered our drinks, only to realise moments later that the café was completely full and every single seat was occupied. We predictably began to complain about the number of people sitting and working on their laptops (something I am definitely guilty of doing) and from there arose the question – under what conditions is it socially acceptable to work in a café?
This conversation spiralled into a full analysis of general café etiquette. I argued that if you buy a drink, you should be allowed to stay as long as you like provided there are still tables available. My friend, however, was sure that you should be allowed to stay as long as you like (even if there are no other seats free) but only if you continue to buy drinks.
This kind of “first world” problem is particularly common in Oxford, where all the cafés are constantly packed full of students hard at work. Except, one proper glance around a busy café reveals that at least half the people inside are actually just browsing Instagram, reading the latest Oxfess posts, or, a personal favourite of mine, playing GeoGuessr.
So, having spent a ridiculous amount of time working(ish) in Oxford cafés, these are some of the top tips and tricks I have learnt about attempting to navigate Oxford café culture:
1. Arrive early! This is much easier said than done and definitely isn’t a tip that I regularly implement. However, this is pretty much the only way to guarantee a good seat which you are more or less doomed without. A lot of cafés also enforce no laptop policies at lunch time, which means that arriving early is definitely worthwhile if you want to do more than an hour’s work.
2. Sit near a plug. I have made the mistake of sitting miles from a plug and having to very quickly migrate to the nearest library far too many times- which is particularly painful after paying at least £3.60 for an overpriced oat latte. This tip is especially relevant if your laptop is anything like mine and dies after approximately 30 minutes of work.
3. If you don’t think that tip number 1 is at all realistic, your best bet is to head out of the centre. There are actually plenty of really nice cafés outside the centre of town that are generally much quieter, and as an added bonus tend to be much cheaper!! This is also a nice opportunity to get to know some different parts of the city that you wouldn’t usually come across.
4. Bring a reusable cup. Loads of cafés around Oxford tend to have a discount if you bring a reusable cup, and if it’s a KeepCup you can even get a coffee to take into the libraries. Obviously this is more eco friendly but also any savings on coffee are surely a major bonus now that Pret have cancelled their subscription…
5. Try to avoid weekends – especially if you are in the centre of Oxford. Not only does this mean the cafés are all going to be busy and loud, but the owners probably aren’t going to be particularly happy if you’ve been there three hours and there isn’t space for any of their other customers to sit down..
6. Bring headphones. I feel like this really doesn’t need too much explanation, but they are definitely useful to have!
If you are new to Oxford this year, I hope these tips give you a bit of a head start in finding the perfect study spot. However, the best piece of advice I can give, and something that I am still learning myself, is that if you actually have any work to do you are probably better off bypassing the café study session and just heading straight to a real library.
