Totalitarianism is invincible because people embrace it so joyfully. Freedom terrifies them so much that they will agree to anything as long as somebody dictates their behavior. A coffee shop whose owner believes she is entitled to tell people how to use their property doesn’t encounter any opposition:
I was here working on my laptop when I looked over and saw that there’s a sign that says ‘laptop-free,’ ” says Luna Colt, a senior at the University of Vermont.
During a recent visit, Colt is shocked that using her computer is against the rules.
“My friend and I started talking about it because we’re both on screens,” Colt says. “Then I said, ‘Should I go up there and apologize?’ “
It is unbelievable to me that anybody would be so terrified, insecure and childish that they would apologize for being dictated to and mistreated.
This seems like a little thing but it surely tells us a lot about how easily people renounce their rights in order to present themselves as obedient little children. I would never continue patronizing a business whose owners would try to tell me that I can’t use my property while on the premises.
And the business owner’s reasoning for banning laptops is very totalitarian, too:
Whalen says it’s not just about money. “To walk into a place and see people looking at their screens with a blank stare, it takes away just kind of the community aspect of it — of you being in a place with other people,” Whalen says.
She thinks she can decide for her customers that they need “the community aspect” and enforce it. The only way such people manage to stay in business is because so many customers welcome totalitarian environments.
Clarissa's Blog 
This is a step above what coffee owners who are obsessed with “community” do in Victoria; one of them just doesn’t carry any wifi because they want to “cultivate a digital free environment”. So it results in repeated instances of customers going there, opening their laptops, then asking the barista, “Do you guys have wifi?” and then having the barista jab their finger irritably at the sign saying so. It’s very passive aggressive.
I went there once because I was in search of a good cup of coffee on a Sunday morning, and the only other option was Tim Hortons, and it was actually tragically entertaining to see that same scenario play out for hours.
LikeLike
Lack of wifi is a bonus for me when I want to do work on my laptop without the temptation of goofing around on the internet. I would always head over to the one coffee shop in town without wifi when it came time to type up my school papers.
LikeLike
I would have some sympathy for the owner if his reason for banning laptops was profitability. Coffeeshops are low margin businesses, and it probably hurts their bottom line to have people buying a $2 cup of coffee and occupying valuable real estate for hours on end.
LikeLike
What Stringer Bell said. If it is hurting their bottom line, fine. But the patronizing “No use of laptops because you need to socialize” is just bullshit. I don’t think the owner even thinks that, she probably thinks it’s better to say that than to cite the real profitability concerns.
LikeLike
The alternative though is to tell the proprietor of the restaurant what they can and cannot allow third parties to do on their property. If a bunch of anti-laptop chaps want to drink coffee together, that’s there business – I can take my dollars elsewhere.
And I’m sure I can provide alternative examples. How many college campuses forbid firearms? Is that not an intrusion onto my rights of possession of my legal property? What if I wish to go into the coffee shop and swear? What if I go to a nice restaurant in tattered jeans and an obscene t-shirt? What if I don’t believe in soap?
LikeLike
College campuses are not businesses that cater to customers. A college is an environment of vertical hierarchy, which is exactly what it’s supposed to be. My students sit when I tell them to and switch places when I decide they should. I also tell them when to speak and when to stay silent. And this is one of the biggest differences between a business and a school.
LikeLike
In the longer version of the article, the owner quite clearly articulates it’s about profit margins. I’m shocked this increased profitability. I go to cafes precisely to work on my laptop. (Sometimes–during the summer especially– I get bored of writing at home.) I think her vision is really shortsighted. She’s exchanging short term profits for long term customer loyalty. I have spent tons of money at my favorite café over the years. She has the right to set up her café the ways she sees fit of course. But I would personally never patronize such an inhospitable establishment.
LikeLike
I agree completely. Normally, coffee-shop owners want to have a place filled with people and not just stand empty, scaring potential customers away. I remember this coffee-shop where I’d always go as an undergrad to study. The owner asked me if I could sit by the window because it attracted customers. 🙂
LikeLike
I used to work at Borders. While there were any number of things that led to our downfall (and a fair number self-inflicted), it did not help that during the holiday season our cafe was filled to the brim with students who bought one small coffee and then took a table for four hours to study for finals. Of course, this happened throughout the entire year, but the holiday season was well beyond the norm. None of these students every became good customers, catering to them at the expense of actual shoppers was a horrifically stupid strategy.
And when I worked in retail, I saw very little of anything resembling brand loyalty. Customers would come in and explicitly threaten you that if you didn’t give them a discount they would go and buy at Amazon (as if I could control the prices!). They would print out coupons multiple times. They would bitch like you wouldn’t believe if they were a day late to a sale.
I would bet that in the scheme of things, the odds of losing the customer who comes in and buys a small coffee and proceeds to open the computer for hours but might one day turn into a good customer, is offset by the people in the street who see a crowded coffee shop with no seating because everyone is on computers spending nothing and decide they’ll find a less busy venue. Now perhaps in our host’s case, the cafe in particular was not crowded, and could have easily accommodated more people. But I gotta go with my own lying eyes on this one.
P.S. Was the cafe in question an older building? If it’s not designed for masses of people on computers, you inevitably get everyone trying to get a piece of the inadequate number of power outlets. Wires everywhere, people poking you in the back asking if it’s not too much trouble to wind their cord around your table… yes, I for one am thankful that there are places that cater to those who want to go for a coffee break without seeing 21st century whizzing around…
LikeLike
The point of the story for me is not whether there should be wi-fi in coffee shops. Different people prefer different things, and it’s all good. What bothers me is how ready some people are to apologize for engaging in a perfectly legal activity that suits them. If this business owner said, “No lingering at tables for longer than 10 minutes,” I’d have no objection whatsoever. But that’s not what she is doing.
LikeLike
Ah well… yes, that is a good point.
LikeLike
Fuck it, sometimes I want to do stuff on my own. Sometimes when I want to be on my own with some coffee. Fuck anyone who thinks I’m a bad person for that.
LikeLike
Nothing is more annoying than forced sociability.
LikeLike
Does the US Postal Service still have those nearly impossible to remove Priority Mail stickers?
Although there’s probably some ridiculous US federal law against appropriating those stickers for use in defacing pointedly annoying signs, I suppose it’s appropriate to counter a ridiculous law by defacing ridiculous signs with them.
Or you could simply call them “fly posted without postage” … 🙂
LikeLike
I don’t know if you read him, but wanted to recommend:
Articles and commentary on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from an Irgun veteran turned Israeli peace activist.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery
He has a wiki page too:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uri_Avnery
LikeLike
Представители ЕАЕК рассказали в Германии о ситуации в Украине
9 апреля представители Евроазиатского еврейского конгресса в ходе рабочего визита в Берлин выступили на ряде мероприятий, посвященных ситуации в Украине и положению украинской еврейской общины.
http://eajc.org/page6/news44423.html
LikeLike