It's Bastille Day, I should be writing about the glory and wonders of the French Revolution. But instead I will write about something that hits a little closer to home. The public computer at the Fairfield Inn in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Lacking a proper business center, the public computer is located kitty-corner to the front desk. Consequently, as a front desk clerk, I can observe what guests are doing on the computer whether or not I wish to. Most guests who use it check email or make reservations for their next stay at a Mariott hotel. But there have been several guests who use it just to kill time.
The youngest guest to use this computer was a little girl, about 9 or 10 years old, who was traveling with her very old grandparents. Upon checking in, her grandfather told me a story about when he was traveling across the country in a Greyhound bus back in the 50s. It stopped in Cheyenne in the month of November and when people got off the bus they immediately turned around and went back on because it was so cold. Despite the friendliness of the old man, it was obvious that the little girl was tired of his company. She discovered the computer and occupied herself for a couple of hours visiting websites that cater to pre-teens, including a shopping game where you dress up a virtual doll in fashionable clothes.
There have been several occasions where sets of teenage guys have gathered around the computer. Fortunately they weren't looking at porn, which would be both embarrassing and disgusting. But they would look at social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace and other forum sites that I still don't quite understand. They've also planted themselves in the breakfast room to watch TV in the absence of their parents.
One man spent probably 3 hours looking up the history of Cheyenne, Wyoming on various third-party websites. I gathered this by recognizing old photos of the depot and historic houses that were popping up on the screen.
An old woman from a tour group was checking her email peacefully as her friend was looking over her shoulder. The next second I caught the women laughing hysterically at a YouTube video of babies rollerskating and doing flips. I guess stupid YouTube videos aren't just for college kids.
Finally at the public computer there was a particular old man writing an email. Although this sounds like nothing unusual, he was typing each word letter by letter with only his right index finger. I don't know if this was due to an inablity or just sheer laziness. It's possible that like the granddaughter or the highschool boys, he was just wasting time that could have been spent with those he was traveling with.
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