20061026

asking permission

as a new laptop owner, i'm surprised at how many wireless networks abound, even along country roads. sometimes i need to bop on the internet for just a few minutes when traveling. if somebody has left his network in unsecure mode, i don't sweat a quick connect without explicit permission, but avoid doing it regularly.

been hanging out in a rural virginia town for a couple of weeks. was going to a local coffee shop for most of my internet, but their attitude eventually drove me away; i spent plenty of money there, tipping well, and the owner and his lackey usually acted like they'd rather sit on their asses than sell. considering that they sometimes got one customer per hour while i was there, the attitude was a mystery i didn't feel like observing anymore.

so this afternoon i made the rounds at the same shopping center, asking those with networks if they'd rent access to me. the first business declined, but recommended i ask two doors down. it was a store where i'd never buy anything, but the guy was very friendly, and said i was welcome to park in the lot and connect anytime, as long as i didn't go nuts downloading the world. he specifically granted his okay if i dropped by in the middle of the night. that's a double bonus, because it gives me access to the parking lot even if a cop tries to kick me out. beautiful.

as noted in my previous post, i've been amazed recently how asking permission can work very well. a couple of weeks ago, i pulled into a major motel chain around 02:00, and asked the woman behind the desk if i could pay them to sleep in my car in their parking lot. figuring she'd give me the modern "liability blah blah blah" blow off, i was surprised when she shook her head and said, "no, you don't need to worry about that. just pull over there next to the rental cars."

yeah! i told her i'd be out at sunrise, and she said that was fine. i love sleeping in vehicles, but it can be a drag if you have to worry about cops knocking on your window, waking you up (more on this later, regarding open carry and my brushes with cops since this post).

posted by saltypig @ 01:23