The Cost of Free Internet in Highland Park

I have coffee shop anxiety.

Ever since I encountered the multiple anti-laptop signs at Buster’s in South Pasadena, I’ve been insecure about working in public spaces. For one thing, my laptop is huge. It’s a multi-colored monster of a Dell. An aesthetic blight in a sea of sleek MacBooks.  And secondly, I’m a screenwriter. Yes, I’m another 20something with Tina Fey glasses and a maybe-not-so-legal copy of Final Draft. Enough said.

So I’m always on the lookout for work spaces that make me feel a little more secure. Here are the places that have worked out so far:

1.)

I’m a sucker for concrete floors, a brick wall, and a pop of color, so Café De Leche gets points in my book right off the bat. The place is brightly lit and makes the most of the space with smaller tables perfect for working solo. On the downside, they have a Wireless Weekend policy and I can’t help but feel like I’m not ‘cool’ enough to be there. Maybe these are issues I should be taking up with a therapist instead of a blog…

2.) 5526 Café

It’s in Hermon. It’s completely unassuming from the outside. It is a GEM.

It has comfy couches, a kitchen table, adorable key chains for sale, gorgeous printed wallpaper, wireless every day, thai iced tea, phenomenal customer service, the best bagel and lox you can get outside the east coast, and A DECORATIVE TREE.

In other words, it is the perfect place and I’m caught between a.) wanting to tell everyone about it and b.) keeping it a secret for me to enjoy.

3.)

One of the many reasons why I love Highland Park and Northeast LA is because it actually feels like the real world. When I look around at the laptops of Antigua Bread customers, I don’t see a whole bunch of Courier New. It’s reassuring.

This is my go-to spot. You can get wireless and a breakfast burrito anytime you want and unlike 5526 Café, it offers ample people-watching opportunities as it’s right on Figueroa and next to a bus stop. The atmosphere is unpretentious, the staff is friendly and they have outdoor seating to boot.

Anyway, the facts are the facts. I’m a 23-year-old screenwriter in Los Angeles and while that may be fodder for some insecurity (and maybe an existential crisis), it’s nice to know there is a coffee shop nearby that won’t judge me.