Blue Moon Coffee’s WiFi Controversy: The Note
Feb.13, 2008 in
Longfellow, Minneapolis
If I’ve learned one thing from InTouch magazine it’s that, “If you’re going to talk about Britney being fat, you need to accompany the story with a fat picture of Britney.”
With that in mind, I found it odd that The Rake ran a story about a note posted in the bathroom at Blue Moon but didn’t show the note. Instead, they included a wire service photo of a guy at a computer.
After reading the story curiosity got the best of me, so made a trip to the Blue Moon bathroom – with a stop for a Cappuccino and Rice Krispy bar to go.
Here’s the note:
Click the image to access larger, readable versions.
In my mind, I was picturing a hand written passive-aggressive note, but that’s not at all what I found.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Wow, that was very well written. Just stating the facts and leaving it up to the customers. Would like to hear from some of the people that sit there all day without buying stuff, seems very rude.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Thanks for the photojournalism.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:49 am
What a nice note. I haven’t been to that place in a couple of years but this makes me want to stop by and buy lots of expensive drinks and then leave.
February 13th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Honest and straighforward. Blue Moon needs to apologize for nothing. They’re not really part of my traffic pattern, but I will make a point of stopping in net time I’m on Lake. I’ve only been there about two or three times, but each time the staff was friendly and the coffee was good.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Poor Blue Moon – I think I must start making it a regular part of my life again.
February 14th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Back in my un- and under-employment days, I had a rotation of coffeehouses I visited to maintain my sanity.
Sanity strained by sitting alone in someone else’s home trying to hunt down non-existent jobs, it was beyond numbing, beyond humiliation, and to do it alone was beyond depressing.
And I learned quite by chance that doing this in a coffeehouse was better, the buzz of activity, the distraction from my own numbing experience, and even on occasion an actual human interaction and conversation.
Yet, even then, I knew to respect the coffeehouse privilege of ‘free space’. I knew when I was the guy taking up a valuable table, and I knew when I was the guy who had been there the longest…and I would immediately finish my drink and leave. That is part of why I had a rotation of places and not just one I would monopolize.
And, even then, when making barely enough money to pay my bills, I would tip generously, because I knew they were not charging for the wifi or table space and so I at least wanted the baristas there to get some compensation from me for these things…at least it was going to the coffeehouse family that many of these indy coffeehouses truly are.
On a related not–I urge folks to swear off the Starbucks-type franchise chain places and keep your coffee money in the community.
Same thing with restaurants and bars. Instead, try to find out where the neighborhood types go to enjoy life. Why do the national restaurant chain, when you can go to The Birchwood Cafe? I frankly can’t think of anything any chain has over the Birchwood…maybe massive seating options???
So, when in Rome, do as the Romans, and when you are in the city folks, don’t bring your suburban McDonalds/Walmart mentality into town…stretch your mind and experience.
January 6th, 2010 at 8:02 am
[...] krispy bars. The Other Mike is the mayor on Foursquare with 22 checkins. Remember when they were having issues with WiFi squatters? I was in there the other day and saw a decent sized crowd of people buying things, so perhaps [...]