A week ago, tropical storm Irene blew through the Northeast dumping rain and dropping thousands of trees across power lines. Although the storm lasted less than a day, many areas in Connecticut are still without electricity.
The Red Cross came in and set up several shelters around town. They offered not only their customary emergency services but charging stations for cell phones and Ipods, as well as access to Wi-Fi. Everyone that I talked to was coping well with the loss of power, but it seems they all struggled with the loss of Internet access. It was their connection with the outside world that they missed the most.
We went to the library and the parking lot was packed, not with people looking for books, but instead, an Internet connection. There was a white board outside that had the library's rules for charging mobile devices and hooking up to Wi-Fi. Any restaurant or fast food place was packed with people hooking up to the Internet.
I think our favorite was the overflow crowd outside our local Starbucks on Main Street. The staff inside doubled in size to keep the cappuccinos flowing. No one was concerned about losing power, just connecting with their friends online.
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