TKC BREAKING AND EXCLUSIVE NEWS!!! AMID MIDTOWN KANSAS CITY SPATE OF VIOLENCE MAIN ST. STARBUCKS REMOVES GOOGLE FIBER COMMUNITY TABLES!!!
The so-called Kansas City gigabit revolution hit a roadblock recently and in the shadow of a spate of violence raging throughout Midtown.
To wit . . .
TKC EXCLUSIVE COFFEE NEWZ!!! MIDTOWN KANSAS CITY MAIN ST. STARBUCKS REMOVES COMMUNITY TABLES AND CHROMEBOOKS FOR PUBLIC INTERNETS ACCESS AFTER MOSTLY HOBOS MONOPOLIZED THE SPACE!!!
Here's the before . . .
Now . . .
Remember that not so long ago this spot was touted as the Starbucks with the fastest wi-fi in the United States and part of the Kansas City gigabit revolution.
But reality has finally sunk in for these java distributors who are surrounded on all sides with a notable uptick in violence.
On the bright side, I'm writing this post from this location right now and it's a lot nicer than it was with the community tables for the Internets.
There were a few violent altercations but nothing significant, KCPD stops by regularly to check in on the place and keep the peace since it's the busiest Starbucks in Kansas City when drive-thru traffic is included. However, denizens of this spot usually have reported some minor and not so minor thefts.
While it's sad to see the resource removed, overall it's a win.
At the time of this writing there's no word from corporate on whether they'll put the tables back and off the record, without bothering my barista too much . . . Just about everybody is glad the hobo Internets access is gone, hopefully for good.
And so . . . The digital divide among the Kansas City homeless along with the threat of increasing violence offer a fact check for all the hype about Google gigabit Internets speed transforming this town into a supposedly smart city.
You decide . . .
Yes, I agree this is a win. Far too many people loiter at Starbucks anyway, I imagine most of them are bloggers. LOL!
ReplyDeleteKidding, Tk.
Do did you use your phone to write this since the Chromebooks weren't available?
ReplyDelete@6:52 - Actually, no. But you bring up a good point. Sometimes, I use a Chromebook very similar to the ones that the community tables provided for the hobos. Always got a bit of a side-eye from a few folks who thought I had pried one lose. So I guess this is sort of a win for me too . . . Along with fewer people asking for change that I don't carry.
ReplyDeleteTo me it is so sad when a retailer does things in kindness for the paying customers and it quickly is abused by the non customers.
ReplyDeleteA related story to this is a place I know that use to offer wi-fi for the customers, but the abuse from the non-customers sitting outside blocking parking places for the paying customers forced the business to remove the wi-fi for all.
I'm so tired of those who seek to do nothing but mooch off of others like they are entitled to something just because it is there.
"The Kansas City gigabit revolution".
ReplyDeleteHahahahahahaha!!
Only agree that I have noticed a difference in the past few days. Much nicer without the free computers. Thanks Starbucks.
ReplyDeleteHobos? Mike Sanders had me meet him at that very Starbucks location twice. I asked why he did not use his office in the CH? He liked Starbucks better. A double chocolate mocha was his drink of hoice and I think added about five sugar packets, I believe. He carried no electronic devices, unless he was wearing a wire.
ReplyDeleteHow's that Hope and Change working out?
ReplyDeleteTHEY'RE REMODELING. THAT'S WHY THE TABLES ARE GONE.
ReplyDeleteISN'T THIS SORT OF A LIE, CRONKITE?
^^^^ They initially said the tables were damaged. They won't be back. Keep sniffing, Tk will fart more in your general direction.
ReplyDeleteLooks like the digital divide is here to stay.
ReplyDeleteAs a society we need to create a place for those so mentally ill they are homeless. That is our kindness.
ReplyDeleteThen euthanize the ones who won't go there. That is also our kindness.
That is also your stupidity, inexperience, and heartlessness.
DeleteIf you were kind, you wouldn't have homeless people.
ReplyDeleteYou see them as outsiders, & not your fellow countrymen.
If the homeless could just get together and visit the city council offices on the 22nd floor of 12th and Oak, mention some "develpoment" that they'd like to undertake even though they don't have any money, and mention that the reason for their proposal is the streetcar, they'd be likely to come out of there with millions, just like the other grifters who've done so well.
ReplyDeleteThen...no more homeless in KCMO!
Mission accomplished and Sly can be on his way to DC to find billions to fund the "program" on a national level.
Frosty.
Homeless need to start camping out at City hall
ReplyDeleteI didn't mind the guys who camped out here. Not all of them were homeless but some of them just needed a quick check in on something more substantial than a phone. I agree with taking out the community tables. Call it an experiment that did okay for awhile, but Starbucks is not a charity. Maybe they can sponsor one of these at the library?
ReplyDeleteWe don't need Starbucks for the hobos. We already provide them with the streetcar and library.
ReplyDeleteTKC seyz FUCK DA POOR!!! They are just a bunch of hobos- by choice.
ReplyDeleteI like my coffee as I like my women, black and without a homeless man watching her pee.
ReplyDeleteYou all mean theres VIOLENCE Downtown ???????
ReplyDeleteWhy I never would of,,,,,,,,
Because KCMO Mayor Sly James keeps sayin Violent Crime is down,,,,
and under C-O-N-T-R-O-L he say, Mr. Sly James the KC Mayor Big Fat Ugly Black Dude guy !!
Ya' he was a LAWYER (LIAR) before he became KC Mayor, that Big Fat Ugly Black Dude guy !!
Crime in KCMO,,,, say it ain't so ,,,,,,,,
Those aren't hobos, you stupid twits. Those are the vibrant creative class, aka hipsters.
ReplyDelete