Tale of Two Cities at Starbuck's

In my quest to get out of the house this afternoon, I was able to observe an interesting version of the tale of two cities. I sat in an easy chair next to an older gent.

Activity	Older gent	Me
physical activity	drinking coffee	drinking coffee
economic activity	whipped out a conventional checkbook with paper checks	debit card
information activity	reading paper copy of the New York Times	fired up MacBook Pro, clicked over to Foxnews.com and Pajamasmedia.com
communication activity	cell phone	got rid of my cell phone over the summer -- simplifies life.
footwear activity	wearing sandals with black socks	Saucony trail runners from Sierra Trading Post
existential activity	slacking	slacking

Worst of times, best of times.