The romantic notion is that the next great novel is being written in a coffee shop. The reality is that coffee shop owners struggle with how to make rent when a customer sets up camp at a table for the better part of the day after purchasing a small cup of coffee.
Coffee shops in Brooklyn are
pushing back, setting up restrictions on Internet usage and, in some extreme cases, blocking the electrical plugs that laptop users need to keep their batteries from running dry in a few hours. And, like everywhere else, the current economy is heightening the tension. According to
The Wall Street Journal:
A decade-old love affair between coffee shops and laptop-wielding customers is fading.... The laptop backlash may predate the recession, but the recession clearly has accelerated it.
All of which raises the question of what is the proper etiquette for using a free wireless Internet connection at a coffee shop? Free Internet is clearly a perk, designed to entice you to come into the store and stay. Stay, but maybe not set up a mobile office. Should you take the library approach and only move along if somebody else needs your seat, or have you stayed long enough to witness a shift change behind the barista's bar?
Mighty Girl has a list of
15 etiquette tips for the Wi-Fi workforce, many of which simply involve being aware of your surroundings. It's rude to bring your own food to a cafe and take up more space than you need. It turns out that simple politeness (and a good-sized tip) can go a long way.
And remember, sitting in your car surfing the Web on your laptop outside a cafe with an open wireless network is a
bad idea and may even be illegal. If you get into trouble at a coffee shop, you can always just bring the
fisticups mug.
[Image via Flickr: scottfeldstein]
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