Seattle Diner Booting Customers For Wearing Google Glass

[onehandle]

Source: Forbes

David Meinert is the owner of the venerable 5 Point Café in Belltown, Seattle, an old-school dive bar that made news earlier this year when it announced that Google Glass smart eyewear would not be allowed in the bar. People locally were amused and the story was tagged as a sign of things to come.

Lost Lake Café is a new-ish 24-hour diner at a busy intersection in the hip mecca that is the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle. It is owned by Meinert and his business partner, Jason Lajeunesse, another local entrepreneur. Last week, a Seattle video teleconference network engineer named Nick Starr went to Lost Lake with some friends. Starr was wearing Google Glass and was asked by a server and manager to either take the headset off or he’d be asked to leave.

Starr and his friends did end up leaving, apparently unhappily, because this morning Starr took to Facebook to air his grievances to Meinert and his Lost Lake crew, saying in part that he informed the server that he was [sic] “well aware of the policy at The 5 Point Cafe but asked to see where it was policy for Glass to be disallowed at Lost Lake. She said she couldn’t provide any and when asked to speak with management she stated she was the night manager. I again inform her that the two venues are different and have different policies. She refuses and I leave.”

Starr goes on to say that “I would love an explanation, apology, clarification, and if the staff member was in the wrong and lost the owner money last night and also future income as well, that this income be deducted from her pay or her termination.” Starr is clearly miffed.

Read more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthickey/2013/11/26/seattle-diner-booting-customers-for-wearing-google-glass

[rucky]

1. I can't decide what's douchier

the glassholes or the hipster dives

[KamaAina]

2. Glassholes FTW!!

[leftyohiolib]

3. the glassholes

[awoke_in_2003]

15. +1000. nt

[thecrow]

47. Awww... what's wrong with this?

[JackInGreen]

37. I beg your pardon

But I work about 3 blocks from the 5point. They're one of the few 24 hour bar and grills left in this city and is a mainstay for my middle of the night lunches (I work graves). It's far from a 'hipster' location. They've probably got the best chicken fried steak I've ever had. I don't agree with their policies (I'm a glass fan), but please come try it before you label it?

[snooper2]

39. douchie is the fact that you can't get dime bags in Seattle..

since they banned plastic bags in 2012 you can now only get dime satchels

[jmowreader]

57. Do you get a dime back when you return the empty container?

[Mojo Electro]

52. Glassholes!

Love it!

I actually think Glass is pretty neat though. I might be a glasshole.

Edit: I should clarify that I would never use it in a restaurant. (I try to never take my phone out of my pocket at any meal table) And what an absolute dickhole move to try to get the staff member fired over it. What pompous douchbaggery.

[MADem]

4. We refuse the right to refuse service to anyone.....

I think those things are creepy. At least if someone is filming with a cellphone, you have a chance of knowing it. There are security cameras everywhere, but if you walk around looking for them you can usually find them.

Maybe if those things had a noxious blinking light so anyone could know when it was aimed at them, the innocent bystanders could at least have a fighting chance of getting "out of the shot" as it were.

[dipsydoodle]

49. Or a note saying

" Anyone wearing Google glasses must also wear a paper bag over their head "

[MADem]

53. >>>>>>>>This!^^^^<<<<<<<< nt

[quadrature]

5. would be easier to jam the internet connection....nt

[RKP5637]

8. Yep, and easy to do. n/t

[sendero]

18. Easy..

.... but almost certainly not legal.

[RKP5637]

33. Yep, definitely not legal! n/t

[petronius]

6. What a horrific asshole! First he can't eat a meal, with friends,

without wearing his special google glasses? Completely asinine, but his choice, certainly. But then he tries to get a server docked in pay, or even fired, for not catering to his childish 'need'? It boggles my mind that this guy would be so unaware of his own asshattery that he'd be the one to blow this up...

[KT2000]

7. Good for Meinert

If a person wants social isolation there are plenty of restaurants that will deliver to the home or they can go pick it up.

[nolabear]

9. I recently talked to someone who was at a restaurant with someone wearing one.

She was very nervous about the idea she could be videotaped without her knowing it. I can understand the concern.

Btw I live in that "hip mecca." That's a pretty damned funny designation. One of the reasons cafe owners (more than one btw) cite being nervous about people wearing them is that they can video or take photos of peoples' credit or debit card transactions. I don't know that it's a real problem but patrons have said they don't like being around them so I can see the point in not wanting them there.

Brave new world, eh?

[pnwmom]

10. Any restaurant should be able to ban anti-social behavior,

or cameras that can be pointed at other people, with or without their knowledge.

[arcane1]

22. Indeed, I've been to a few bars that don't allow photography of ANY kind.

Hell, there's a bar here in SF that bans patchouli, and kicks people out if they smell like it.

[TeamPooka]

11. I wouldn't let you in with a camera crew and I wouldn't let you just film with your camera the whole

night either if I owed the place.
Privacy is now a commodity that businesses can sell you, along with the meal.

[calimary]

12. LOVE this!

Lajeunesse doesn’t see it that way. “Should someone lose their job over this? No way. Right or wrong, there’s no way we’d fire one of our employees for something like that. We’d much rather 86 an entitled-acting tech nerd.”

“We’re not trying to be jerks at all,” Meinert says. “If you walked in here with a video camera we’d ask you to stop. If you’re speaking too loudly on a cellphone we’d ask you to leave. That should be obvious. With Glass, there should be etiquette around its use, and we feel that in a setting like a café or bar they should just be taken off and not used.”

"We’d much rather 86 an entitled-acting tech nerd.”
OMG!!! LOVE it!!!

[Blue_Tires]

13. Do they make customers check smartphones, ipads, etc. at the door, too?

If you're subtle enough you can easily record anything, google glasses or no....

[Scootaloo]

26. Yup. THing is, it's an asinine thing to do.

And most restaurants are implicitly trusting their customers to not behave in an asinine manner.

Apparently this expectation is too much for some people to cope with.

[zeemike]

16. I don't get it...I guess I am just old.

But why in the hell would you want to go out to dinner with the internet on your face?
Don't get me wrong I love my computer and the internet but not better than my friends...and not while I am eating out.

[BeyondGeography]

20. Stop making sense

"Why in the hell would you want to go out to dinner with the internet on your face?"

A keeper.

[Johnny Noshoes]

28. Neither do I

What is it with people who feel the need to take a picture of what they're eating and post it on Facebook?

[DeschutesRiver]

35. ”with the Internet on your face”, that is priceless & am still laughing. Thanks for that line.nt

[Javaman]

38. +1

because of a self possessed public demands it LOL

[yellowcanine]

42. On your face.....attached to your hand (smart phone)

On your face seems more rude, but I am not sure why. I guess most people with smart phones at least stow them while they are actually eating dinner with someone else. And it is easier to secretly video someone with the glasses - does a light come on at least so people know they are being recorded?

[zeemike]

46. The whole damn thing seems creepy to me

Even if the grocery store there are people talking on the phone while walking down the isle...and usually they are not saying anything improtant...just like "I am walking down the cereal isle now"...I just don't get it...it reminds me of some Si Fi dystopia world of disconnected people that I never thought I would live to see.

[yellowcanine]

51. Right up there with posting bodily functions on FB.

Not sure that actually happens but would not be surprised.

[Brigid]

56. That's what I want to know too.

Why would you want the internet on your face at all?

[cascadiance]

17. Perhaps they are afraid of a new generation of paparazzi?

... that might keep certain customers away from their place if they didn't have policies like this?

[geomon666]

19. Good for the diner.

I will now make it a priority to visit this establishment when I'm in the Seattle area.

[Lancero]

21. And suddenly...

Google announces a partnership with eyeglass companies to sell prescription glasses with Glass built in.

[arcane1]

25. We all know it's coming.

Though I still cannot imagine a scenario where that would be something I found convenient when at a bar or restaurant

[Plucketeer]

23. Talk about them losing a paying customer.....

if I see some asshat glasshat in an eatery where I am - I'm outta there in a heartbeat.

[arcane1]

24. Who wouldn't want to hang out in a bar or restaurant with THIS guy:

[Scootaloo]

27. What is with these guys?

Look buddy, not so sound old-fashioned, but... get off the fucking fence. Either grow a beard or don't. "The lintbrush" is not an acceptable style for facial hair.

[jsr]

40. +1.

[onehandle]

48. A good example of why whole states are banning these in cars.

Can you imagine these nuts driving around while trying to film things and surf the 'net?

[Julian Englis]

29. I bet they ban the Google glasses from Republican fund raisers

The odds are better than 47%

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

30. HA! A DUzy!

[myrna minx]

50. LOL.

[gopiscrap]

31. what is google glass?

[onehandle]

32. Glasses that allow you to record whoever you are talking to and upload the video to Google.

Allowing them to sell your personal information to marketers and hackers.

Wearers look like this:

[gopiscrap]

34. thank you!!!

[stevenleser]

54. That person didnt do a good description.

Essentially, they are going to be like wearable smartphones. And like a smartphone, yes, you can also take pictures and record video, but you can do all of the other things as well.

Right now, they look as pictured. but the plan is to have regular looking glasses.

The idea is similar to a fighter pilot's HUD or Heads up display.

[davidpdx]

36. If I were the restaurant I would make it implicit with a sign on the door

stating the policy. I agree they shouldn't have to, but some people will just try to pick a fight because they want to be bullies.

The customer was rude not only in their failure to comply, but then to insist someone should have their pay docked.

[yellowcanine]

41. It is a video camera. Most restaurants would not allow that. Starr is a self centered douche.

There is a clear privacy issue here and a restaurant would have liability issues if they allowed diners to videotape other patrons without their permission. A restaurant should not have to provide a written policy for something as basic as this. Besides the liability issues, there is an issue of basic courtesy. Restaurants have the right to ask patrons to be courteous to other patrons and staff. Wearing a videocam at a restaurant is just rude.

[yellowcanine]

43. Is Nick Starr related to Ken Starr? (Thinks it is ok to invade the privacy of others)

[Sheldon Cooper]

44. What a fucking dick.

Demanding that she be docked so he could wear his stupid fucking glasses? What a selfish, entitled prick.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

45. Glasshole (thank you for that!) Starr's on Twitter, of course...

Meinhert too:

David Meinert ‏@davidmeinert 15h
@NickStarr thanks for the publicity. Would love to buy you a beer at Lost Lake or The 5 Point. Just, you know, no Glasses.

Retweeted by Nick Starr

https://twitter.com/NickStarr

Wow, Starr has really nailed "playing the victim." Poor baby.

[stevenleser]

55. It wont be possible to do this soon. The glasses will eventually look like regular glasses. nt

[Revanchist]

58. Don't you just hate first-world problems?