I’ve worked in suburban stores and busy college town stores, and waters usually never bothered me or anyone I work with. Also, technically you don’t have to even order anything to sit in a Starbucks cafe. It’s meant to be “a Third Place” where you feel comfortable, aside from work and home. The idea is that you don’t have to pay to be at work or home, so you don’t have to pay to be at Starbucks.

And if you’re nice and not trying to rip us off, then we love having you! The people who frustrate us are the hordes of preteens who come in all wanting venti cups of whipped cream and mocha drizzle for free, take up a table for six hours while screaming and making a mess. If you just want a water and a place to relax, we are more than happy to accommodate! At my college town, people will stay there for literally hours just studying. In my suburbs store, we had a dude who would just drink iced coffee and the free refills by the bucket while staying for four hours to play video games online. You’re more than welcome!

I have worked 3 stores and I’m a 6 year partner. I have worked with tons and tons of people because it’s a revolving door company. No one has ever cared about people who stay along time except when we are trying to close and people who won’t leave haha. But I could care less if you don’t buy anything and just hang out. Doesn’t make a difference to us. Lol

In my experience, pretty much everything that annoys baristas falls under either "creating extra work for us," "wasting our time" (because we're frequently scored on how long it takes us to do stuff), or "being mean".

Chilling in the cafe and occasionally coming up to order something would make you my favorite customer of the day!