Today’s Discovery

I am not at work today. I am one of three members negotiating a new contract between my employer and our union, AFTRA. In its annual report, my bosses claim good employee relations, and I can’t dispute that. These are not ‘to the mats’ sessions.

I’m not going to talk about the negotiations.

After today’s session, the three of us and our union rep headed out for a quick bite and strategy session. At a nice new casual restaurant on Temple Street, before my Chicken Caesar arrived, I pulled out my laptop to send email.

I was surprised to see at least eight or nine wireless networks, a few of which were open. I connected to one and hit send.

Earlier, while negotiating at the Omni Hotel, there were even more networks, though none would give me Internet access. I especially liked the one named “Janeisenet.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. This is Downtown New Haven, not Midtown Manhattan. When I opened the laptop, there was no expectation of actually seeing something.

Even here at home, I have seen as many as four unprotected networks show up (all with weak signals). When my Internet service has disappeared, I’ve logged on to at least one of them.

Thanks unknown neighbor.

Over time I expect to see more and more of this free available Internet access. To quote Yakov Smirnoff – “Is this a wonderful country, or what?”