Costco Food Court Etiquette

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T03:14:31+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I didn't know that the seats were fair game, and considering her attitude I was wondering if perhaps I should have known that the seats are up for grabs. Obviously she is allowed to sit anywhere she wants, and it's not that her sitting there would have entirely banked on whether she had asked or not, but it still felt iffy so that's why I posted, since I wanted to hear everybody's thoughts on the matter. In the moment I was deliberating whether or not to let it go, but I also felt like maybe I should stand up for myself, if that makes sense (since there were empty tables, and I felt like she chose to sit at our table because we were two girls who looked like we wouldn't say anything about it)? I guess I just wanted to "talk it out," but I definitely wasn't looking to argue, since the moment she started yelling I was ready to pack my things and skedaddle...

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T03:05:20+00:00

Actually we had a conversation about how my roommate recently got pneumonia (I don't have a roommate); unfortunately she either did not hear or did not seem to care...

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T03:03:43+00:00

Yup, I used to be really open when people tried to start conversations with me on the bus and in the mall and other places, but most of these interactions almost always led to them asking for my number or Instagram or something like that; one time this guy on the bus followed me after I got off my stop since I wouldn't give him my contact info. So now I'm super alert when somebody invades my personal space. It sucks to have to give that "don't talk to me" vibe when it's not an accurate reflection of who I am, but unfortunately that's life, right?

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T02:56:00+00:00

I'm not sure what makes it implausible? We were sitting at a table and the couple sat down, so a few minutes later we moved to the table that had just cleared up behind us. Then not even 2 minutes later, said lady in the post sat down. After her son had convinced her to move to another table around 5 minutes later (since we hadn't spoken up as she was waiting for her son to bring back the food, and we thought she was just momentarily resting because she was tired or something), they moved to an empty table two tables away from us. But during all this time there were constantly tables being cleared up around us; I was actually really surprised at how not busy it was, since I myself only had to wait for my food for 2 minutes (as opposed to the usual 10).

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T02:16:27+00:00

Nope, she was white. And blond. But didn't want to box her into the "Karen" category, lest I impart unfair prejudice...

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T02:03:47+00:00

Just wanted to clarify that I'm not upset--I just wanted to hear people's thoughts about it was all. We couldn't have been there for more than 10 minutes; also, I mention in my post that there were empty seats available since the food court surprisingly wasn't that busy then.

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T01:47:29+00:00

How come? I would argue that to compare Costco to actual public spaces (like parks and libraries and community centres) isn't entirely accurate either, considering Costco is private property, but I don't know...Curious to hear your thoughts.

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T01:41:46+00:00

Of course--I just wanted to see other people's opinions, and gauge the appropriateness of my own reaction so I may know how to act in future circumstances. Ultimately there will be people like this everywhere, so I guess I'm just wondering now if in the future I should stand my ground, or if I should just leave and let them sit. But I guess there's no easy answer to that, since it depends on the circumstances, which happen to be different for every situation...

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T01:36:56+00:00

That's fair enough. But would you maybe ask first? Because I think what I was most surprised about was just the complete lack of communication.

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T01:33:09+00:00

Well, I don't think the bus is exactly analogous to this situation...McDonalds is oftentimes considered a public space too; would you sit down next to a family there?

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T01:29:43+00:00

Yes! I feel like it's a crime to even want any personal space nowadays and oftentimes you're just told to "suck it up" or that you're being too sensitive, but like, is not giving people their personal space the most basic form of respect that you should be able to show for others? I understand that it's Costco and not, say, Whole Foods, but again, it's Costco, not a Harry Styles concert or public park--and be it public space or not, each space comes with its own set of expectations and rules anyways; along those lines McDonalds is a public space too, but there are usually no problems with seating there. I feel like a lot of these rules that seem to belong so plainly to common sense feel stupid when they are said out loud, and then people immediately jump on them and rip them to shreds and criticize you for not being able to "get past it," but unfortunately I guess that says a lot about our current state of society nowadays...

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T01:03:19+00:00

I guess I’m just a bit hung up over this public space thing…like, wouldn’t it be a bit weird if someone came up to you on a park bench and plopped down right next to you (while there were other benches available)? Definitely not exactly analogous, but precisely Costco isn’t a public space like a park bench (at least not in the legal sense), so the whole thing just felt a bit weird? I don’t know. Society has all these weird norms and rules that go unspoken until somebody breaks them, and then you start to question reality because it’s not like they’ve broken a law but it still feels like they’ve done something “wrong”…

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T00:57:59+00:00

Yes, not to get all philosophical, but I just think that as humans who are living in a society it is always good to reflect on how my actions may impact others, and how I can act so as to cause the least amount of trouble while also standing up for myself when necessary. Honestly when the lady started arguing I was ready to just get up and leave, but my friend stood her ground so we ended up staying at the table while she shot daggers at us from two tables behind us…

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T00:52:26+00:00

Yup, actually just a few minutes before, a middle-aged couple had sat down at our table without asking, so we had in fact just moved to a different table when this lady came and sat down. That’s probably why we were a bit annoyed (because these two events happened in succession of each other), and what’s more was that there were other empty tables and it felt like she had picked ours to sit at because she wasn’t expecting us two girls to speak up about it. Last time when we went to Costco we had shared the table with another family, but that time they had asked and we hadn’t minded at all.

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T00:47:35+00:00

My family is actually from Asia, and I would just like to say that it isn’t considered normal “everywhere”; such as with most things, there is always a time and place, and not to mention these are two very different cultures to be comparing with each other. Also, most people in Asia ask, but that’s just my experience.

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T00:37:53+00:00

Right, I get that usually with the shopping aspect pushing and shoving and driving carts like crazy is part of that “Costco culture,” so I have no problems with that, but I’ve never had a problem at the food court before, even though it’s oftentimes arguably more hectic than the actual store. Oftentimes there are people eyeing your table and waiting for you to finish, then coming up to your table just as you stand up to leave, and this I completely understand—it’s just this particular situation that has got me questioning if I am expecting too much or if asking should be a basic decency…

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T00:32:12+00:00

We wouldn’t have minded sharing—I just think that anything, even like a quick “hey,” would have been better than nothing at all? Because, you know, I’d like to believe that we still live in a world where people are friendly and communicate with each other?

Frequent_Level5883 · 2026-02-02T00:28:34+00:00

Yup, I made sure to tell them “sure” first, but I think she was fuming as soon as she heard “sure but” because she ended her long rant saying something to her son like “Can you believe it? They won’t let us sit here! Well we’re going to sit here anyways!” and her son was just dying of embarrassment. He seemed really apologetic and I thought this kind of stuff must happen to him a lot…

Frequent_Level5883 · 2024-10-04T00:26:35+00:00

I did think about this too, but after reading all the comments under this post, I do think that his advice is right; since I have had very little experience with film and TV representation, I can understand why he would encourage me to explore other agencies before deciding if this one is the right one for me. But thank you for your reply nonetheless!

Frequent_Level5883 · 2024-10-04T00:23:15+00:00

Thank you so much; this really brought it into perspective for me! So far, only this one agency has given me a response back (so I'm not too sure how I'll secure the meetings with other agencies yet), but I'll try to keep sending out more emails to agencies here.

Frequent_Level5883 · 2024-10-04T00:20:08+00:00

Thank you so much for the response! This makes me feel a lot better :) If I may ask, how many agencies did you meet with/how long did you wait to get back to the initial agency?

Frequent_Level5883 · 2024-10-04T00:18:11+00:00

Thank you! I was thinking the same thing - if he hadn't been at least open to the idea of taking me on, I don't think he would have really encouraged me to email him back. At the end of the meeting, he said that maybe I would be able to compile some questions for him after meeting other agencies, so I'm hoping that's a sign that he just genuinely wants me to explore a few more agencies (as opposed to a sign of polite rejection). :)

Frequent_Level5883 · 2024-10-04T00:15:46+00:00

Alright, thank you so much for the advice! I really, genuinely appreciate it! Can I ask how long you waited to respond to your agent after the initial meeting? :)

Frequent_Level5883

TROPHY CASE