#45: No WiFi

Someone help me, please. This is 2009 right? As in the 21st Century, correct? So why...tell me why...is it that there are so many frickin' businesses that don't offer wifi?
Hell, every restaurant, airport, coffee house and retail outlet should have wifi these days. No, screw that. Entire cities should offer free wifi for travelers roaming through town. If I'm visiting Denver and I don't know the area, it sure would be nice to be able to look up online, while I'm in the car, to see where the nearest movie theatre or chain restaurant is.

I don't have a cell phone that gets internet service everywhere I go. I'd like to, but I just don't. I do have an iPod Touch though. And I love it. Except I have to find a wireless service/signal everytime I go somewhere. I'm amazed at the lack of places that offer it.

And you know what else. The frickin' internet should be free, for crying out loud. Why the hell is it that the Colorado Springs, Colorado airport offers free internet service, but 45 miles to the north, the only way to get it at Denver International Airport is to pay $8 for a day pass or subscribe to a monthly service through Boingo or something like that? That's ridiculous. The internet should be free. And quite honestly, I'm surprised more retailers and business owners don't push for the internet to be free. It's in their best interest. Online shopping is growing by leaps and bounds. I wonder how much more it would grow if we could get access anywhere at anytime.

Let's be honest: I don't blame people for making a buck by providing online service. But their time has come...and gone. It's time for the internet to be free. And it's time for your local coffee shop, airport, bookstore, restaurant, etc. to offer it in their establishments.

No WiFi: You Suck.

#38: Smoking Restaurants

So, I was in Michigan this past week for a work-related project and went out to eat a couple of times while I was there.

Man, have I been spoiled in Colorado. I had forgotten how disgusting it is to go out to eat and be inundated with the stench of cigarette smoke. I had forgotten how it penetrates your clothes, your hair...and yes, even your food. Doesn't matter that the restaurants have a "non-smoking section." No one told that to the smoke. It wanders whereever it pleases. And, as it used to be in Colorado before we passed the smoke-free legislation, restaurants typically have the non-smoking section just a few feet away from the smoking section anyway. Why bother?

Let's be honest: You have a right to smoke. I have a right to clean air. At some point, our rights are going to conflict. And when they do, they should always lean in the direction of protection. As in protecting me from the hazardous filth that you're pouring out into the atmosphere.

I don't care what filth you put into your body. That's your decision. But it's also my decision what filth I put into MY body. And I shouldn't have to endure your cigarette smoke just because I want to go out to eat.

Michigan...get on the ball. It's time we stopped smoking in public places in every state.

Side Note: What's funny is how smokers think they can hide the stench with gum, perfume, whatever. You can't. Non-smokers can tell if you smoke within seconds of meeting you. I don't care if you haven't had a cigarette in hours. It's on you like skunk odor. And, I'm sure I'll offend some people by saying this, but girls who think they look sexy with a cigarette...yech! I've met women who have no idea how smoking is changing their faces. The wrinkles around the lips. The yellow teeth. The dark circles under the eyes. The crow's feet. The pronounced nasal labial folds. Absolute and total turn-off. Just my .02

Restaurants with "Smoking Sections": You Suck!