A weird thing started happening about five to ten years ago. In cities across the country, coffee shops rapidly made the transition from lively spaces full of chatter, dates, friends, and books to libraries inhabited by intense humans staring into screens, each in their own earphone-isolated world.

I was one of those people; one of the first to start working remotely when I wasn’t able to get a “real job” during the Great Recession.

Back then, even as the coffee shops filled to a breaking point and people waged passive aggressive evil eye wars over the too-few plug points, we were still in the minority.

Today, however, we’ve added coworking spaces in every major city and more than a few minor ones, but coffee shops are still packed to break...