Coffee shop hogs

This piece may not fit well with several readers so before anything else, please don’t view this as a generalization. Rather is it an observation about some people who go to coffee shops and use them like their personal office space or dorm.

Time and again, I have been to coffee shops and restaurants and realize that a number of brokers, traders, and lawyers habitually camp at certain coffee shops and behave like they were in their dining room or office. Last week I saw two guys teleconferencing on “speaker phone” unmindful of other restaurant clients.

Considering how close or intimate some places are, you can actually hear every detail of a deal, a strategy or a legal issue that’s going on and going down. One time I saw a couple of lawyers spread out their court documents and lots of paper work while loudly discussing the merits of their case with clients. They carried on as if they were in “their” conference room!

Some people have complained about how a chain of coffee shops now “charge” a price more than a cup of their coffee if you ask for their WIFI password. I now understand why they have that policy. Every time I go to any of their branches, I always find a bunch of High School or College students camped out on a sofa, multi-tasking with homework and social media interests.

I admire them for their efforts to study and do their work but should it be at the expense of other paying customers and the business establishment? “hanging out” during down times might be good for business but if the staff already know your personal details, your school schedule and who you’re in a relationship, that is so not cool.

Bringing things to the lowest level, I know of at least one coffee-restaurant in the Ortigas business center and two Hotel lobby-coffee shops that have a reputation as the “In-place”. Yes it’s the “In-place” for deal- makers and corrupt government officials, particularly Local Government Officials to meet, greet and deal.

Realizing all these, my wife Karen commented; “ Do these people realize that everyone can hear or see them? Would you want others to know about your legal problems in a coffee shop? Would you appreciate it if people overstayed in your living room or your office?

Please think about it, your being “practical” in this situation is at someone else’s expense. While you make “the most of it”, you take away most of it from the owner and their employees.

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With Christmas less than 30 days away, I wonder how much concern and real work has been given by the Aquino Administration to our impending aeronautical gridlock on the ground and in the skies?

Are travellers going to spend more time with relatives, on vacation, or waiting at the airport, in transit or waiting to land and take off?

Does the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines have real authority if they can’t even make the airlines follow flight schedules or land at the airport indicated in their flight plan and check-in counters?

Considering the many cancellations and rerouting done before take off, it seems that the CAAP should be called MIA. Missing In Action or Missing In Authority.

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The Armed Forces of the Philippines has “lost” two spokespersons for “speaking out of line”. One expressed the belief the government should not deal with the MILF until they prove themselves trustworthy and not go around killing 19 soldiers.

The second answered a hypothetical-academic question that involved the concept of a “revolutionary government”. The term was highlighted or exaggerated in the papers and they were quickly “advised” to “move out”.

In the mean time, the Secretary of Justice, willingly or unwillingly, has her gun-totting photo splashed on the front page of the Philippine Star. What will Malacanang have to say about this “poster girl” image for gunslingers and shooters?

Did the DOJ people stop to think what negative messages such photos and events are sending? Why are government offices and their officers sponsoring, spending, promoting or taking part in such events? Why are they lending their official titles?

Or are they going to blame all of their lapses on media yet again?

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Officials of Mitsubishi Motors and their customers should file an official complaint, if not a class-action suit against the Anti Smoke Belching Units of the City of Makati particularly those operating along C-5.

It is a visually verifiable fact that the “ASBU-sados” of Makati target commuter vans and commercial vehicles that are manufactured by, or carry the “Mitsubishi” label or logo. In the many times I have seen them and received complaints about them, the common thread is that the ASBU-sados “TARGET” Mitsubishis because the ASBUs generalize them as smoke belchers.

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One of the government initiatives that we have supported in this column is the DOST - Juan Time movement to get Filipinos mindful of the Philippine Standard Time and stop living in the derogatory “Filipino time” or always being late.

The program really needs all our help because it seems that “ Juan Time” is no match for Juan Tamads who are unmindful or disrespectful of time, even those in government. It seems that a number of high-ranking official continue to think that people can wait especially if it is “the people” who need something from them.

Whether it is a state luncheon, media breakfast meeting or a business meeting with Japanese investors, title or position is not license to be late. People in government from the President, his cabinet members down to their underlings should manage their time and their activities based on professionalism and not relations. To be late is to be rude.

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