A few nights ago during our final night in Paris, we stopped for dinner at a cafe that we had enjoyed the first night we were in town – Cafe le Dome. What made it even better was that we had the same waiter again! But that’s not the point of this post. The point is what we witnessed while sitting at our outside table.

A young man, perhaps in his mid-20’s(?), was walking by and fiddling with his phone. He approached a member of the wait staff, as if to inquire about a table for a bite to eat. However, what came out of his mouth instead just kind of shocked us.

“Can you give me the WiFi password?”

That’s it. No request for a table. No please or thank you. Not even an attempt at asking in French. Just a very blunt and arrogant request. Of course, and without losing a beat, the waiter in question responded as one would expect – with a very direct “NO”.

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Now, before I go any further, let me say that Tammi and I have not been completely disconnected on this trip. She has needed to keep up with things related to her new teaching gig (WOO!) and I have continued my job search. We’ve also been utilizing Dropbox as a dumping ground/back-up for all of our photos. The difference between us and this fellow as it would seem is that the vast majority of our online activity on this trip has happened at the end of our day, when we’re back at our place and about to pass out – not while wandering the streets, possibly missing out on awesome moments.

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But that’s not the end of the saga, as it got kind of weird after that. The young man, who I will again refer to as “WiFi Guy”, then proceeded to ask the waiter if he could access the WiFi if he made a purchase. He just seemed desperate at this point. The waiter ignored him, I think – my back was to both of them by this point, and the young man persisted once more to no avail. He left soon after, frustrated, mumbling and still in search of his precious wifi. Tammi and I were just dumbfounded by the whole exchange.

Now, in his (limited) defense, “WiFi Guy” could have had a very legitimate reason for seeking out access to the web. It could have been for any number of reasons, but it just seemed as if he had taken an epic selfie and was desperate to post it.

Moral(s)of this story?
Make an effort to disconnect while abroad as much as possible. I say this as I blog, but again – this is during our down time before or after heading out for sightseeing. Enjoy what is happening around you.

Oh yeah, almost forgot – Don’t be a dick to locals in a foreign country over a wifi password. Your selfie can wait.

Until next time…