I sincerely hope...

...this isn't starting a trend.

Stopped in at Crown Center tonight and about the time I was finishing my sandwich and soda from d'Bronx, I happened to see the Paul Blart impersonator on duty at the time stroll over to another laptop user in the atrium and engage him in some rather animated conversation. After Blart walked away I decided to shut down and take a stretch break before picking up a malted at Sheridan's and firing back up. On the way to the restroom I detoured past the table where the object of Blart's interest was sitting, and asked him what that was all about. Seems as if the management here has taken to discouraging folks from "hanging out" in the atrium for some reason, according to him.

Granted, that's just one side of the story, and in the interest of journalistic integrity, I'm going to have to regretfully report that had this gentleman been sitting in one of our public libraries doing the same thing, it's possible he'd have been asked to leave there as well, particularly if the branch were crowded, owing to, shall we say, not being in compliance with the library's policy dealing with "personal hygiene." Whether the poor guy was homeless or not, I can't say for sure. Given the times and the fact that laptops are rather cheap these days, it's not inconceivable someone without a roof over his or her head could be schlepping one around with his or her backpack and bedroll.

At any rate, I'm not going to criticize Blart or the management, except for this: If you don't want to end up being held in the same well-deserved disregard the Cordish Company has brought upon itself with its shenanigans downtown, you ought to perhaps print up some more of those little cardboard triangle thingies you used to have on the tables down here that clearly spell out what you do and don't expect from your customers with regard to how long they can stay and how they should behave. Better yet, perhaps you could initiate a clickthrough page showing your policy that users will see when they first connect. You have the right to discourage "parkers" who don't buy much of anything, as well as others who legitimately detract from the experience of other patrons, but don't run the risk of throwing out the baby with the bath water. Don't repeat Cordish's mistake. Specify up front what's acceptable and what isn't, and put it in writing.

And are you people EVER going to fix your stinking DHCP so that it STAYS fixed?