Coffeeshop 3.0

I spent a fair amount of time in coffee shops during my college years and before I had kids. Coffee shops were a place to hang out, to meet up with friends, and just kick back and converse. It's where I went to get away from work and just chill out in a big, comfy couch.

The coffee shop landscape today is nearly unrecognizable from the lazy, smoke-filled venues I recall from my youth in New York and San Francisco. Rich and I ventured into a coffee shop today after walking Lola, and we were the ONLY people there without our noses buried in a laptop, tablet, or text book. We were there simply to enjoy a chai tea latté and Americano, while chit chatting about anything that came to mind (and a lot usually does).

I'm not making any judgement about people and their laptops taking over the coffee shops. I've used them as my extended office space too. Free Wi-Fi is great, the internet is awesome, we have a wealth of information at our fingertips. But as I looked over the sea of coffee drinkers today, each completely engrossed in their own individual laptop project, it was clear to see how easily technology pulls us apart as much as it brings us together.