Bring Your Extension Cord
Mark K December 1st, 2007
My sister and I were having coffee at a Starbucks in downtown San Francisco yesterday when the young woman sitting next to us asked us if we would watch her computer while she went to the bathroom. I said that we would and then kidded her that I liked her extension cord.
She was sitting at a small table in the middle of the room. Since all of the tables on the perimeter near the wall outlet were taken, she had plugged in a heavy-duty black extension cord, which snaked across the room to her table where she was working on her laptop. My sister chastised me for embarrassing the woman as she walked away.
When she returned and thanked us for guarding the computer, I apologized for my wisecrack about the cord. I said that the truth is that I have my laptop with me as well and that I guess that I was feeling insecure about the fact that I only had the puny cord that was supplied when I bought the computer.
“He has cord envy,” my sister offered in the way of further explanation.
The young woman laughed and said that that’s okay. She said that she needs a long extension cord to make sure that her computer doesn’t lose a charge and that she can continue doing her homework for a long period of time. She said that she has to come to a public place like Starbucks because if she stays in her apartment, she won’t get much done.
As a fellow laptop writer and procrastinator, that caught my interest and I had to ask her what happens when she stays at home - does she get sidetracked by standing in front of the refrigerator trying to decide what to eat?
She says that she finds any and everything to do besides her assignments, including cleaning the apartment from top to bottom.
I asked her if she wasn’t distracted just as much by the noise around her at Starbucks, such as the nosy people at the table next to her?
Her answer was very interesting. She said that in fact, the opposite was true. She felt that when she did her homework at Starbucks, her fellow customers were keeping an eye on her and would notice if she were slacking off from her work. This keeps her motivated and helps her to get more done.
I felt better about being such a wise guy about the extension cord, knowing that I was part of the team in the coffee house, helping a student finish her paper on time.
