"Old Town Coffee" in Lander WY

My first day in Lander WY, I awoke, showered and made a bee-line for The Old Town Coffee house in Lander WY.   I wanted a place to sit and work on some videos, post some tweets, pics and maybe a quick facebook entry, together with a couple of cups of coffee.  What follows is the dialog that happened as best as I can remember at the barista counter...

ME:  hello, can I have a large Americano, and do you have an electrical plug for my computer?


Barista@OldTownCoffee: sorry we don't have plugs and we're not going to put them in.


ME  I see, why don't you have electrical plugs?


Barista@OldTownCoffee:  There is a great article in either the New York Times or LA Times about Coffee Houses not providing electrical plugs, you should read it. 


ME: ok I will look for that article when I can plug in my computer, but can you tell me; Why?


Barista@OldTownCoffee:  People talk to each other more and interact with the baristas more if there are no electrical plugs in a coffee house.


ME:  So there are no plans to ever install electrical plugs in Old Town Coffee?


Barista@OldTownCoffee:  At this time there are no plans to ever have plugs


ME:  OK, thanks, where is a Coffee Shop in Lander with plugs?


Barista@OldTownCoffee: ... down the street somewhere...


ME:  OK thanks

If the barista would have just looked me in the eye, and been honest and said "We don't want to encourage people to hang out in Old Town Coffee and soak in the free wifi" I would have been happy to accept that answer, but the "Manager" was rude, offensive and arrogant.  I left the business immediately and went a block down the street to the Apple Valley Market.

If you are visiting Lander Wyoming, I strongly encourage you to visit Apple Valley Market, where they have excellent coffee/espresso drinks, serve wonderful food, have free wifi, ALLOW CUSTOMERS TO PLUG IN COMPUTERS, and simultaneously provide honest, polite and respectful customer service

Old Town Coffee in Lander Wy is no friend to travelling bicyclists.   With more than 1000 people riding the TransAm annually, (which runs right thru the center of town) you'd think a business would go out of their way to make electrical plugs available.     The TransAm riders offer a revenue stream to the small towns on the route.   Please post this blog post on your Facebook or tweet it.

(this blog written and posted at the Fremont County Library in Lander WY.  This place is so newly constructed, it still has that "new library smell")