No Hay Wi-Fi!?

Punta Arenas, Chile

I just don't get it.  When I was practically at the end of the earth, a stone's throw away from Antarctica, I was able to connect to free wi-fi and even FaceTime with my family from the airport.  On the other hand, when I'm traveling in the US, a lot of major airports only offer the kind of wi-fi that you have to pay for.  That's not the kind of wi-fi I like.

I was at a restaurant in NYC last night and the password to their wi-fi account was listed on the menu.  This really kind of struck me and I found myself wondering why Internet access is made so easy in places where we should engage in socializing i.e. restaurants and why there are barriers in places where we are often "flying solo" (ahah pun intended!).  I'm a social butterfly and have been known to make a friend or two at the airport, but more often than not, I'm doing my own thing when I'm there.  As I patiently wait in the boarding area (aka find a spot next to the gate entrance where I can hover and prepare to shove people out of the way so I don't get stuck checking my rollerboard!), I feel compelled to seem like I'm doing something important rather than just staring off into space.  I'm always wishing that I didn't have to ruin my already poor eyesight by squinting at my 4G-enabled phone while my shiny laptop tells me that Safari can not display the page.

On a slight tangent, I absolutely think American society, as friendly and outgoing as we are, has lost sight of the value of socializing in person for the benefit of our health and intellectual wellness.  I plead guilty.  Since reality says we are reliant on digital communication though, I do hope that airports and other places in America catch the complimentary wi-fi bug that has already reached the ends of the earth, but I also hope we can do a better job of knowing the time and place to use it.

Read this blog post my sis recently wrote called "Right There, but Unavailable".