The ancients (i.e., our grandparents) think our generation is crazy for being so attached to technology. And let’s face it, we kind of are. I once went Facebook-free during high school for almost three months and it wasn’t pretty. Judging from the events of the past few weeks here at Mizzou, my fellow Tigers feel the same way. This agonizing day was what some would call, in the words of FDR, “a date which will live in infamy.” Although Mizzou Wireless is decent at best, an entire campus-wide outage for hours was unprecedented and definitely caught students and faculty off-guard.
I’ll try and keep the graphic details down to a minimum, but imagine this scene unfolding in front of you: professors running around frantically looking for Ethernet hookups for their lectures, students pulling their hair out in the agony of Twitter deprivation – okay, it wasn’t that bad, but you get the picture. Luckily, there were many places to go off-campus that offered free wireless to Internet-deprived students.
Kaldi’s Coffee Shop: This little place located conveniently downtown on Ninth Street has the perfect (and my favorite) study atmosphere. Their wireless is reliable and their vanilla lattes are to die for – what more could you want?
Starbucks Coffee: My main location in Memorial Union on campus would be awesome if it didn’t operate under Mizzou Wireless, so I was forced to go to the downtown Starbucks on Ninth Street. The atmosphere is chill, the music is great for studying, and you’ll earn more points if you use your Gold Card. However, their free AT&T wireless was the main attraction on that gloomy Internet-forsaken evening.
Panera Bread (or Bread Co. if you’re from St. Louis; I’m not. It’s Panera to me): SO MANY LOCATIONS. From the one on Ninth Street to Nifong Boulevard to the one in the mall and the newest location on East Broadway. All offer a great, quiet study atmosphere, amazing food (I’m partial to the mac and cheese), and of course, free wireless.
Noodles and Company: Again, located on Ninth Street downtown, this restaurant is a fun place to get your homework done. Tons of food choices (if you’re hungry, as I always am) and comfy booths to finally finish that paper you’ve been putting off. Plus, they just got one of those new, high-tech touch screen soda machines. It’s super futuristic, so you should stop by just to give that one a whirl.
The Heidelburg: Affectionately known as ‘The Berg,’ this local hangout is located right next to Noodles and Company. Although it’s more popular for its beers and half-price appetizers during happy hour, they also offer free wireless to students in desperate need of Internet access. Beer. Half-price appetizers. Reliable Internet. Sounds like a perfect setting to me.