Bustle Blog posted a note on the real reason why in Friends the sofa table at Central Coffee was always free for the show's protagonists. While reviewing the series, the site's editor found a "reserved" sign on the table in several episodes. Two days later, the news was reprinted by the Buzzfeed online edition, which collected almost three million views on it in a few hours.
An inconspicuous black sign meant to explain how the show's characters - Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe and Joe - always get the biggest table in the coffee shop, noted journalist Tanya Ghahremani. According to her, she found it strange that in such a crowded city as New York and in such a popular institution as Central Coffee House, the best place is always available for the same group of friends who come there.
As Haremani found out, the writers of the show partly made sure that this moment did not look illogical - in various episodes, a sign standing on the table for the reserve gets into the frame. Often it is hidden behind other objects, so most viewers were unaware of its existence for many years.
Most New York coffee shops do not have a policy of reserving tables for guests. However, writes the author of the note, in some establishments in Brooklyn you can find similar signs, which are usually put up only for regular visitors to a particular place.
On January 18th, Buzzfeed published the news about the sign with a link to Bustle, which immediately made a real sensation out of it. In a few hours, the number of views of the material exceeded the one million mark. By the evening of the same day, the article had received almost 2.7 million views, and a report about the sign appeared on the website and on the air of the American music channel MTV.
Every New Yorker knows that it is almost impossible to find a free table in any local coffee shop. Not to mention holding the same spot for ten years in a row.
The existence of a table reservation sign in the Central Coffee House in Friends has not yet been widely known. One of the few mentions of this detail online can be found on the Movie Mistakes forum. In a discussion about the series, a user of the site claims to have noticed the sign, but finds it rather strange that friends can even book a table in a coffee shop this way.
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