Anxiety and Café Protocol

I'm not an normally an anxious person, but one situation has always troubled me and also often annoyed. What to do when the line is long and tables scarce in a selected café? Will there still be a table available when I get to the front of the line? One friend is always keen to put her bag on the table while we wait our turn, but I have always felt uncomfortable about excluding someone who arrived before us. In the reverse situation, I get quite irritated by those who have parked their bag or child while I am left to stand around with nowhere to go after waiting my turn in the line. For this reason many friends know (and kindly put up with the fact) that we will end up trooping from café to café until we find one where the line:table ratio is acceptable. Today I was in Caffiend, Petone and just about to start fussing when I spied this sign.

How delightful to be able to 'bagsy a seat' with no feelings of guilt and then be able to focus fully on the task of selecting one's refreshments. I can only hope this protocol takes over in all establishments. It also led to a discussion as to whether children today still use "I bags" as a legally binding right to first dibs on a desired item - it certainly held weight in my day.