Unfiltered Story #146042

I worked for a now out-of-business bookstore chain for a number of years. For a couple of years before we closed we offered free wi-fi in the cafe, which would draw in college students and the gamer crowd. On Saturday evenings we closed at 11, with a closing announcement given at 10:45, 10:55, and again at close.

One particular Saturday we had a large group who were still in the cafe, on their laptops, right through all of the announcements, including a rare 5-after announcement. Nothing anyone said to this group did anything to hasten their exit.

That is, until I had a brainstorm.

Having had to reset the wireless router on more than one occasion, I knew exactly where the switch and plug were located. Stepping into this little resource closet, I got on my walkie and told everyone to keep an eye on the cafe. I counted down from five before pulling the plug and shutting off the power to the router.

Stepping out of our back room, I watched the gamers pack up and finally leave, ten minutes after we had officially closed for the night. With all customers gone and the doors locked, I stepped back into the resource closet, plugged the router back in and hit the power button.

Twenty five minutes later, as the employees left the building we looked over to find the gamers outside, their laptops open and back on our wi-fi signal.

At least they were out of the store for the night and enjoying the fresh air.