I'm here to help; just don't expect smiles with that order. 'Kay?

Written at 5:21 p.m. exactly:

Having sat here with my coffee and bagel for several minutes, been re-assured that my wireless signal is "excellent," that I'm "connected" but - at the same time - repeatedly told my browser is having a "problem loading page," I turned my eyes ever so slightly to the right. Where another patron was apparently having similar trouble. (This observaation was further confirmed when she actually asked me if I was connecting without trouble.)

Having already observed that the Saturday crew in this business seemed less than enthusiastic, at best, to actually have customers who expected help, I was loathe to walk back up to the counter I'd just abandoned, with my seemingly begrudgingly-offered snacks, what else could I do?

Once more at the counter, I caught the eye of the young lady who had to pause in the middle of making what was, I'm confident, a very complex salad. I explained my concern. She sighed. "You'll have to talk to the manager." I waited, thinking, "And that would be who???" Apparently I really would have to ask the probing question; it certainly wasn't being hurled my way. She gestured. It was the slightly-less-enthusiastic-to-see-me-than-she-was a young man to her left. I approached. He sighed, even more enthusiastically than his underling had. I asked my question again. "Yea... We're getting a new server this weekend." Bland. I looked around for signs explaining this apparently premeditated arrangement. (Seeing as how it's been my experiene that there are consistently no less than 5 other people in this business with laptops at any given time, I have to imagine such a posting would be appreciated by others besides myself. Then he continued. "There's nothing we can do about it. Other people have had trouble too. It's going on for a few days." I should have smiled, thanked him and walked away. The way he'd hoped I would. "So, is there intermittent service, or are you saying I shouldn't try to access the internet here at all this weekend?" His "reassuring" answer that some people have, indeed, found success wasn't so reassuring at all. I didn't believe him, and after trying I really didn't. Now I've finished my coffee and bagel, met my friend, and gone elsewhere. Where I should have gone in the first place. Hmph. Live and learn.