I would ask to share the table but I would not see this as a 'hint' that the original occupier should move. In fact I don't see why they should move and any little nudges to give them a hint would be very rude.
I look at the seating in a shopping mall food court as being in one person blocks, you get the seat and, on a 'four person' table, the quarter of the table that is directly in front of you. Everybody just wants to eat and move along, so who else is at the table is not an issue.
Ask to share the table. If they refuse, not because they are waiting for others but just because they want all that space for themselves, they are taking more than their share of resources and are being rude. If they say yes be careful not to spread into their space and everyone can eat and move along.
I'm with this. Of course, some of that is that I live in NYC, and we crowd into subways, park on the street, etc. We're very, very cognizant of what is and what is not private space. And food court seating is *not* private space.
(I want to do a study comparing what happens if you don't allow anybody to hold a seat until they get their food. All the food courts I go to have people holding tables while they wait for people to arrive, and people with food wandering around looking for a place to sit. It's my theory that if only people who -have- food are allowed to sit in the food court, that once you -get- your food, there will be a place to sit. But of course, I could be wrong, hence the wish for the study.)
I would say that it's rude to take a 4-top if a 2-top is available--but you don't really know what the conditions were when they sat down. At that time, there may not have been a 2-top available. And I also think they shouldn't have to wander the food court looking for an empty 2-top; it needs to be reasonably close.
And ditto this:
In a food court situation where there's no table service, people pull two (or more) tables together all the time. It's the norm. I don't even see why it would be a big deal to do so. To me, it's the same as if you had a group of eight people. The food court doesn't have any tables for eight so you just pull two fours together or a four and two twos if that's all that's available nearby. I wouldn't even think twice about this.
And of course snitching a chair from another table and moving it to a 2-top.
I also don't think you have a given right to spread out non-food items in a food court. This is not a place to linger over your meal, or surf the web. This is a place for eating. And the more crowded it gets, the more that becomes the imperative, I believe.
If I pushed two table together I move them back to their original place when I'm finished.
I wouldn't. Maybe the people who come after me want a 4-top. They can move it back apart. But then again, that's in NYC. In some other place, I might, actually.