Coffee Shops - The office of Americans

Have you taken the time to notice how many coffee shops there are in Santa Barbara? Or in general across the country. How popular can coffee be? Is it really coffee that's so appealing or is it the idea of sitting in a coffee shop that is what attracts most people. Currently I'm in a coffee shop. It's called Finestra, translated means window. What's great about Finestra is that the wifi is free. This small Christian coffee shop has FREE wifi. So for the low price of a mocha latte I can check email, blog and listen to itunes all while looking out the "Finestra" on to a sunny day in Santa Barbara. I'm mobile only because I've stolen (or borrowed) my bosses macbook. What a great little computer, so light weight and easy to use. Anyway... it's interesting because when I was in Denver the only coffee shops I could find were Starbucks (so maybe they are sweeping the nation) and they had wifi, but you have to pay. Yes, pay. A company as big as Starbucks makes you pay to sit down, drink they 4.00 lattes and check your mail. They have t-mobile hot spots which for the low price of $12.00 you can go online unlimited for 24 hours. Or you can buy a one time membership for $39.95, which isn't really one time as they keep billing your card unless you remember to call and cancel. Or you can sign up for a year for $29.95 a month. That's a bit pricey I think. But there is a market for it. As I look around there are 3 people not including me who are busy typing away on their laptops. And when I was in Starbucks, each time, there were at least 2 people if not more who were checking mail. We work to hard, it's proven even in our coffee shops, places designed to ask us to settle down. Places where there are couches, calming music, food and coffee. Even in this setting we're all still working. Can we waste a moment of the day? When was the last time you did that? Truly wasted a moment. And I'm not talking about moments wasted in life, but wasting a moment, a moment where you could be working. Instead of wasting moments enjoying our coffee, being present in the experiencs, why not check mail? Why not do work? Why not pass up another oppertunity to waste sometime. We're so busying living life that I truly think we've forgotten how to live life. It's evident even in our coffee shops. Coffee shops are the new offices. We fool ourselves into getting out of the office. We say, I'm going to go and enjoy my coffee and be late to work this morning. But are we? Physically, yes we're late to work, but we're still working. I think we've stopped enjoying the small things in life. I know I have. Instead of reading a book while sipping my latter, I'm on the computer. I think I spend more time on the computer then I do doing anything else. How sad is that? I can type fast, so I guess that's something.
Peace.