Cafe Promotes Laptop-free Weekend

It's a truly novel concept, especially in the technology-driven Bay Area, but one North Oakland, Calif. cafe is asking its patrons to take time to do something many of them may not have done in a while. Actual Cafe owner Sal Bednarz wants his customers to keep their laptops at home this weekend. Instead of flipping open their computers and surfing the Internet or typing away, he wants them to sit at tables with one another and, well, talk.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on this six-week old cafe's novel idea, that runs from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 p.m. on Sunday. If people bring in laptops, they'll actually be asked to unplug them. Why? As Bednarz said in the article, "When we opened this place we wanted to create a community. Instead it's just become a room full of laptops," adding, "I don't have anything against technology, but it's not the same as looking someone in the eye and pressing the flesh."

When the reporter, Carolyn Jones, talked to customers on Friday about the idea, they sounded into it. Dan Beyer, who was the only person at the cafe at that time without a laptop, said, "Laptops cut people off. I think it forms a social divide. Technology's great, but there's a serious social impact."

While we at Tonic clearly don't have a problem with technology, since it allows you to read our inspiring stories of goodness, we also know that people need to find a healthy balance in their lives. So we suggest taking Actual Cafe's suggestion this weekend. Find time to step away from technology for a bit and appreciate the simple pleasure of sitting across from someone and talking. You might just make a new friend.

Photo courtesy of cfarivar via Flickr