Off The Grid

Yesterday, I had an idea.  I think it'd be highly successful.  I don't have any money to start this, so it'll never get off the ground.

I want to start a chain of restaurants called "Off The Grid On The Grill".  The restaurant is outfitted with expensive metal shielding so that cellphone coverage is stopped.  Patrons of the establishment cannot use cellphones.  It's not that cellphones are disallowed - cellphones don't work.  The food is good, the beer is cold and there's music.  Most likely it'd have to be overpriced because people who work there get paid good too and I'm guessing the metal shielding would cost an arm and a leg.  Maybe we could get involved in politics and get a license from the FCC for signal jamming.  Signal jammers aren't too expensive, but I still like the idea of metal jamming.

The simple theme is "cellphones don't work".  The name "Off The Grid" might attract people who raise chickens, use solar power, recycle, wear used clothes, grow vegetables and smoke pot.  There'd have to be a disclaimer - "We are still on the grid.  We aren't hardcore.   We are just off the cellphone network.  We thought it'd be fun.  And we thought we could make money."

We could have signs that make fun of Facebook and Googling... stuff like "Google This!", "To Hell With The Cell!", "T-Bone The Phone!", "I Don't Like Liking!", "Jam That Signal!", "Stop The Phubbing!".

I imagine there'd be friends who would drag another friend to "Off The Grid" for a cozy chat. 

What could be done about emergencies where somebody has to get hold of a patron?  An internet service could be provided where patrons could "check in" with an emergency contact of some sort.  We'd team up with cellphone companies for routing emergency calls to the "check in" account.  "Off The Grid" would not regulate what was termed an emergency.  It'd be an additional service and think it should cost a couple dollars.

Using the cellphone would be like taking a cigarette break.  There'd be ashtrays to hold cellphones outside.

Maybe we could go even further and find ways to jam signals at churches.  We could jam signals at homes.  We could make it switchable.  Fathers could "flip the switch".

I dream of a day when I go to a restaurant and do not see the glows on people's faces - where there are no status updates, no googles, no pictures, no checks, no interruptions, no on-line game playing, no rectangle in the right or left hand.  What a fantastic place that'd be.