Student Gets Kicked Out of Coffee Shop

by Djulia Montana ‘tahna’ de Veyra

The Sun told a story about a UNLV student booted from a coffee shop after being accused of not purchasing enough coffee to compensate for his use of the free Wi-Fi. So can you still call the Wi-Fi free then? And is the establishment’s action justified?

I am guilty of the same crime. It can be very tempting to linger in cozy coffee shops while enjoying free access to the Internet. And I can afford only so much coffee. So I can pretty much put myself in the UNLV student’s shoes. I imagine it must have been a really embarrassing experience.

Still, I don’t blame the ‘It’s a Grind’ coffeehouse for kicking the student out (I do wish they did nicely so). They do have a business to protect. Just imagine what would happen to the enterprise if, say, all of their customers would stay half of the day to take advantage of the free Wi-Fi while ordering a few dollars’ worth of coffee. This is free rider problem at its best. Give the business a few months before it finally sees its end.

“There are people there who pitch a tent,” an ‘It’s a Grind’ customer said. “And I believe there is a point where you take advantage of someone’s good hospitality and wear out your welcome.”

Several people who wrote the Sun responded in the same note. Apparently, many reasonable customers share my sentiment.

How about you? What do you think?