A Socially Irresponsible CyberCafe
A short article from the Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) describes the pitiful end of an unhappy life, the last three months of which were spent entirely inside of a Taipei cybercafe:
A Taiwanese jobless man died after spending three months in an Internet cafe, a newspaper reported Saturday. Hsu Tai-yang, 37, entered the RS Cyber Cafe at Tamsui outside Taipei on March 8 and never left, the China TImes said. He died in his seat on Monday after complaining he could not breathe, the report said. Doctors said he died from heart failure, probably as a result of fatigue, lack of sleep and inhaling the smoke-filled air. The cafe owner said that in the past three months, Hsu had played video games, ate instant noodles, smoked and chewed betel nuts, the newspaper said. Hsu did not get along with his wife, so he did not want to go home, the report said.
Commentary: This account, even if not completely accuarate, is perplexing, mystifying. I find it hard to believe that such a thing could happen in the United States or any Western country. Even if only out of self-concern, no cyber cafe or casino or coffeshop proprietor would allow a customer to take up permanent residence in their facility. Even in free society like ours, inevitably a cop, a priest, a social worker, or a psychologist all of the above would be called to undertake an intervention. Even though profits are frequently placed before people, surely someone would have called his wife and begged her to take him back in. The customer may always be right, but how could a cybercafe see it as a customer's right to take up permanent residence inside the establishment let alone allow it to be the place where he draws his last breath? What is it that passes for socially responsible business in Taipei?
Update: Lina the Warrior Princess, sent a link to an article about Apple's planned "Mecca" store in mid-town Manhattan, a store that apparently will be open 24-7:
NY Apple 'Mecca' rumored to be open 24-7: We had really hoped to confirm recent blog reports that a massive Apple Computer store going up in midtown Manhattan, aka "Apple Mecca," will be the company's first retail outlet open 24 hours a day. The store--which will reportedly be 25,000 square feet--is located in the underground retail plaza of the General Motors Building on Fifth Avenue... By all accounts, the store is supposed to open sometime in late May, and might also be the first store to feature an iPod Bar. We were particularly impressed with the San Francisco Chronicle Culture Blog's observation that the "Mecca's" above-ground entrance "bears an uncanny resemblance to the big black Ka'bah (AKA: The House O' Abraham) to whence all Islamic pilgrims take their grueling mandatory hajj." Makes sense, the blog adds, "because it shall be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and hence shall be the place New Yorkers shall take a holy pilgrimage whenever they crave a new iPod Nano at 4:00 am...
I can guarantee that no matter how much of a Mac Mecca this becomes, no matter how many pilgrimages are made to this mid-town Manhattan store, no one is going to be allowed to stay there until they die, no matter how badly they may want to.
Links: The Carnival of Business #8 | Carnival of the Insanities |