[OPINION] Student-cafe culture: weighing in on overstaying in coffee shops

February 15, 2024

Students lounging in Coffee Project with their devices located at España during a school night on Feb. 8. (Photo by Aabgina Cos/The Manila Warden)

Imagine ordering a cup of coffee to wake your sleep-deprived self in the middle of a lunch rush to kick-start your afternoon before classes. You think the hardest thing to get through is meeting your deadlines in time. However, you soon realize there are no free seats nor a charging port for your laptop—they're all occupied.  

Coffee shops are undeniably a perfect solution for those seeking a productive atmosphere alongside a cozy ambience to create ‘personal spaces’ in a public area, especially with services and amenities such as high-speed internet, air-conditioning, and blends of aromatic brews and meals.  

Especially in the University Belt, cafes have become a vital part of student culture as sanctuaries or a middle ground between the comfort of home or their dorm and the formal spaces at university, also known as a ‘third place’ for students, especially with all the distractions present in students’ homes or universities.  

However, a viral online video featuring Dale Philip, a Scottish travel vlogger, drew flak after he criticized students for studying and overstaying in cafes in the Philippines. One of the complaints that caused an outrage was: “Why do you settle in somebody's coffee shop to do your work with people disturbing you?” The video has raised questions such as, “why study at a coffee shop and not in their homes? How long can you stay at coffee shops?” 

After visiting cafes like Coffee Project, Calle Cafe, and Coffee Pages located around the University of Santo Tomas (UST), I found that most of those shops accommodated college students’ long stay durations while some did not. A few cafes prefer customers to pay for more products than their initial orders if they want to extend their visit for more than two hours, especially for wi-fi users.  

However, while most cafe staff members and owners stay unbothered by the duration of students using cafes as workspaces, other customers find it inconvenient.  

What many people fail to realize is that when customers pay for their drinks, there is a sense of entitlement to do whatever they want or need at the shop. This becomes a problem when customers feel they can stay as long as they want in coffee shops, which coffee shop owners might construe as hurting their profitability. 

Cafes as a ‘third place’ around universities like UST will naturally be filled with college students. Research by the University of London mentioned that the moderate distraction and familiar buzz of ambient noise encourages cafe-goers to stay focused, productive, and creative—making it a no-brainer with why people choose to stay longer in coffee shops. 

Many college students living near universities struggle to find personal spaces while they share a room with two to three other students in dormitories or condominiums. Having a ‘third place’ keeps the balance between having two places with no personal spaces. 

With that in mind, people, particularly students, should be able to stay in cafes for as long as they want, but they should be mindful of other people’s personal space. They should also be mindful that coffee shops are still businesses that need to earn. Catching up and coffee cups go hand-in-hand, anyway. 

Still, everyone is trying to get by at the end of the day. If you are bothered by the cafe-student culture, it would be better to find other peaceful areas where you can enjoy your hot coffee and sweet desserts with less queues, free seats, and a balanced cafe experience.  

- Aabgina Cos