The Internet Hobo: A New Phrase Has Been Coined

For a few months, I had put off getting my own Internet connection. Having recently moved into a new apartment, I had been "borrowing" a connection unbeknownst to one of my neighbours in the meantime.

After awhile, I discovered that the connection I'd been using had disappeared. I had hoped that my neighbour had just turned off their computer that day, but sadly it was gone for good. I waited a few days, hoping something else would come up, going to a local cafe when I got desperate.

But then one day, when I was particularly desperate, the cafe was closed. It was 8pm, dark and cold. I sat at the bench outside the cafe using its wireless connection. At least I didn't have to buy a coffee. The staff there were always nice about letting me stay much longer than a single coffee warranted.

Soon after it started to snow. As pathetic as it sounds, I started walking around outside with my open laptop, trying to find a place where I could connect to the Internet that had some kind of shelter. I managed to find one next to a low-rise aparment building. Huddled up trying to stay warm, I chatted with a friend of mine in Algeria. He commented that he had stayed up half the night just to chat with his loved ones back home. As my hands started to cramp up from the cold as I typed, my natural response to this was, "You think that's bad?"

It was at that moment that I realized I had hit rock bottom as far as Internet connectivity goes. I was an Internet hobo. And it was time to pick myself up and call my local cable company.