No, That's Not Awkward

The International Herald Tribune has an article about the pros and cons of cafés offering Wi-Fi, either for free or for a fee. It's worth looking at simply because it shows that once people are given a reason to ignore each other they can take it to extreme lengths:

The café filled up with laptop users each weekend, often one person to a table for four. Some would sit for eight hours purchasing a single drink, or nothing at all.

Even worse, when lingerers were confronted, they were bellicose. "We get yelled at by people who feel it's their right" to use Victrola's Wi-Fi without buying anything, Strongin said. Tony Konecny, the shop's head roaster, added, "It's rarely a pleasant interaction."

But the worst bit is this:

Canvas Gallery is a bar, art gallery, music venue and coffee shop that has tried several methods to throttle free Wi-Fi usage after it created some awkward situations, like laptop users' listening to music on headphones while sitting in front of a band that was performing.

No, that's not awkward, that's rude.