racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

I’ve had it with these establishments pretending to be upscale cafés or coffee shops. It seems that everywhere there’s a supposedly quiet and comfortable café where you can find a quiet spot to lounge in and perhaps get some work done via the WiFi network (which ain’t free anyway!). But alas! People always manage to make it so noisy with their useless chatter.

I’m at Starbucks right now, and it sounds like a frickin’ high school cafeteria (not that I didn’t have fond memories of my ol’ high school cafeteria–mmm, food!).

My point is that these establishments are ideally where people go to jumpstart mornings with their daily dose of caffeine, or relax after a day’s work, or even do work itself (I call WiFi-enabled cafes my satellite offices).

Or are libraries the only quiet places you can find these days?

I’m all right with the occasional meetings and chit-chat; these are generally productive conversations. But kids these days–they seem to feel so at home with these establishments that they generally tend to be unmindful of the rest of the world with their screams and rambunctious banter. Yes, screams. And rambunctious banter.

And by kids, I mean college-aged or probably recent-entrants to the workforce (a.k.a., “hell”). Hey, I’m still in my mid-twenties and I can say that more or less I try to act a bit more maturely when I’m in public (okay, I drool sometimes and ogle when I see cool gadgets!).

Two words for you people: grow up! And why not try to patronize some of the establishment’s goods for a change? Don’t just sit there. Go buy something. These cafés are not there for free table space.

I think this is the norm in my country, or perahaps in my metropolis. I hear people are usually more, umm, civilized in other parts of the world.

That’s why I usually bring along my personal Digital Noise Reduction System ™. My good set broke a couple of weeks back, though.

Or it’s probably just me. Sorry–just ranting here!

People know me as a coffee junkie connosieur. Tea? Well, not really my thing. But beer–that’s a different story. I’m not really your typical pub-going male, though, as I usually gulp (or rather, sip?) my ale with meals, especially those that beer goes well with.

So here I am at three a.m. (check the timestamp) trying to work. It’s my usual schedule, after all. And I’m torn between a super-cold bottle of SMB Light and some good ol’ instant coffee (I ran out of ground coffee for brewing). We know that tech is best discussed over beer–see Diggnation. But I need an upper, and I fear that alcohol might be too much at this time of day. I’d probably just get wasted even before I even produce something worth reading.

So it’s creativity versus longevity.

Coffee wins tonight.

Of course, by “fags,” I mean cigarettes–you know, the Brit and Aussie slang, lest you accuse me of being homophobic or something (no comment!). Those who know me personally would know I don’t smoke (never tried). And I’m quite allergic to cigarette smoke, so I try to keep distance from smokers–at least, while they’re doing their thing, that is.

An experience yesterday (Philippine time, of course) led me to come up with this writeup on ForeverGeek. Went to Seattle’s Best to do some work, but I had no place to stay except the smoking area (I should’ve settled down first before buying coffee, as I usually do). Guess what? Most of the tables were occupied by WiFi junkies.

So what have I learned from all this? I guess this just affirms my theory that in some instances, you could indeed assume the worst from people (which was pointed out in a comment posted here)–at least in some instances. Of course, it’s probably unfair to put people at fault for enjoying the facilities. Hey, I’m also here to do the same. What I’m pointing out is that there’s probably a better alternative for establishments attracting business this way–things that could discourage abuse.

Pretty fun/light stuff.

Enjoy!