'Dude, you just loiter': Older couple waltz around bookstore like they own the place never spending a dime, owner pulls a fast one on them by removing all chairs

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Dec 1, 2023 7:00 PM EST

Sometimes big problems require simple solutions. This seemed to be the case in the entitled couple vs small bookstore story we came across on Reddit. The bookstore employee recalls an older couple who oozed entitlement so much in the establishment that it ruined the comfort of big comfy chairs for everyone. This couple would come in, never by anything, but would sit in the only two big comfy chairs all day long, cut the line to demand free hot water, and even kick their feet up on the table SHOELESS. That's right, these freeloading hippies seemed to think it was ok to have their shoes off in a shared public space. Apparently, they even would listen to things on their phone at top volume and disturb everyone around them. 

Apparently, the bookstore owners didn't feel like this warranted a ban, since they weren't hurting anybody, so they didn't initially know how to approach it. Though most of Reddit seems to agree they most definitely should have banned this couple, the owner took another route: They removed all of the chairs except for a few tiny benches. This enraged the entitled couple, and you better believe they threw a Karen-level tantrum, but in the end, it fixed the problem and they never returned. What would you do faced with a situation like this?

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    via Martin Cathrae via Flickr
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    Posted by u/ApperceptiveSea 12 hours ago "I'm old. You should have chairs for me!" S
    via u/ApperceptiveSea
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    I work at a bookstore, that also has a coffee shop in it. Between the cafe and our customer service desk, we used to have two large comfy chairs and a table. They were meant for customers to look through books, relax while shopping, enjoy their food and coffee, etc..
    via u/ApperceptiveSea
  • 04
    Notice how I said "used to". We had to get rid of the chairs and table, specifically because of one certain customer. This man comes in multiple times a week, sometimes with his wife.
    via u/ApperceptiveSea
  • 05
    He would just sit in the chair for hours, sometimes until we closed. He never bought anything, he didn't even grab a book or a magazine to peruse.
    via u/ApperceptiveSea
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    He would take off his shoes, and use the table as a footrest. He would watch YouTube videos on the loudest volume on his phone. He would fall asleep in the chairs with his shoes off, his YouTube going, and just act like he owned the place.
    via u/ApperceptiveSea
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    We had to ask him several times to put his shoes on, cause the man was literally feet from where we serve food! That's not okay! And his wife, I couldn't stand her either. She never bought anything,
    via u/ApperceptiveSea
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    but would come over to the counter in the cafe, where I'm dealing with a line of 10 people, and ask for a cup of hot water. And heaven forbid you make her wait for it! So we had to get rid of the chairs because it was becoming a big problem.
    via u/ApperceptiveSea
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    And he was so furious when he came back and saw we had taken them away. I watched him walk around the store trying to find the chairs, and when he only found the smaller chairs and benches we have, he confronted my manager about it.
    via u/ApperceptiveSea
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    "There are old people like me who need a place to sit!" Dude, you just loiter! You and your wife aren't even paying customers!
    via u/ApperceptiveSea
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    EDIT: No, they are not homeless. And I don't know what they weren't banned. My best guess is probably because what they are doing isn't causing physical harm or distress to other customers.
    via u/ApperceptiveSea
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    Prior_Benefit8453. 10 hr. ago This is one of my pet peeves. The problem was the older couple NOT ALL CUSTOMERS! I am so sorry no one had the courage to tell them
    via u/Prior_Benefit8453
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    1) the chairs were for paying customers or 2) tell them they were welcome IF they bought books or 3) at least set a time limit for this man to sit there. I will probably get grief for this post. But 1. I
    via u/Prior_Benefit8453
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    see all of us get punished for ONE (or 2) person's behavior way too much. These people were taking advantage of the bookstore.
    via u/Prior_Benefit8453
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    annieselkie 5 hr. ago ● I am sure the "blasting youtube" or "sleeping there" or "cutting line" distressed customers greatly. Especially neurodivergent customers, who are sensitive to noise. Im pretty sure they lost money because of them.
    via u/annieselkie
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    Golfnpickle 11 min. ago ● Agree. Grow a pair & just confront the couple. Let them know the chairs are for paying customers. Pretty simple.
    via u/Golfnpickle
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    Seiphiroth 11 hr. ago ● Haha, oh old entitled people. I bet that lady would cut the line as well for her free hot water. The shoes off is insane
    via u/Seiphiroth
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    fuzzy itchbeans - 2 hr. ago Worked in a huge chain bookstore that had a big cafe. All it ever had was loitering people who left Mile high piles of magazines. That's when they started charging for hot water.
    via u/fuzzy*itchbeans
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    IzzaPizza22. 34 min. ago "There is no requirement that we publicly post our rules. You can take me telling you to your face as a public post if you want, but the fact is that those are the rules. If you don't follow them, I have to ask you to leave."
    via u/IzzaPizza22
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    People are so tied in knots by stuff like that, when it really is that simple. Does your town need a sign that says "robbery is illegal" in order for robbery to be illegal?
    via u/IzzaPizza22
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    LadyMRedd 7 hr. ago Years ago I used to work at the coffee shop in a book store and we'd have a regular "customer" who'd come and ask for hot water. He'd bring his own food and tea bags and then grab magazines off the rack and read them cover to cover (without paying). He'd sit
    via u/LadyMRedd
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    there for hours and when he left he'd have a huge mound of trash of tea bags and creamer/sugar wrappers, napkins, his food trash, and the magazines that he never bought that were now unsellable. So he sat there for hours, didn't buy a thing, used our water/coffee mixers/napkins, destroyed our magazines.... And couldn't even bother to at least clean up after himself.
    via u/LadyMRedd
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    Bethany-Anne. 4 hr. ago This sucks for the staff and the actual customers. That couple were just horrible. They hide behind the I'm old excuse and deliberately use it to act like arseholes.
    via u/Bethany-Anne
  • 24
    They 100% would have ignored any signs about time limits. He was told to put his shoes on more than once. She would make a scene to jump the queue of paying customers for free hot water.
    via u/Bethany-Anne

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entitled boomers karens bookstore employee independent bookstore bookstore clerk cozy bookstore reddit karen small bookstore karens in the wild entitled karen karma r-entitled Reddit karen story bookerstore employee karen entitled people bookstore
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