I feel you, but i'd so much rather patronize a cafe then work at one of these shared spaces. They often feel very alienating and perhaps culture will glide towards them being the new norm and feel less isolating and lame. For now, there's a stilted feel when I've tried them but I think I will explore the option again and try it out.

But when patronizing a coffeeshop, I buy things, I tip well, I'm polite and conversational and I try to use only a small amount of space.

Some coffeeshops like Commonplace are really nice for this because they will outright explain to customers that it is an "open-seating environment" so if there's a table with four seats that means four strangers' butts can plop down and use the space. Perhaps it is a bit selfish and the baristas internally begrudge the use, but it does seem like a lifeline of this kind of place as well.

An issue is they close at 6 or 7. I recognize that this is based on demand for the space. I think there is a demand. We're just still in the craw of a post-covid state where people don't patronize places as often.