Good points about how coffee houses used to be places of conversation and such, but we don’t know each other anymore like we used too. We are billions of people now, so for every person you know or have an acquaintance in common with, there are several thousand in your area you don’t know. Ever hear of the Dunbar number? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number
So, the problem isn’t so much standing in line and bad service and being rude to each other, it is just that there are more people than we could ever be friends with or comfortably socialise with. Simply more strangers on the planet than there used to be.
Besides, if I wanted to discuss topical news or controversial issues, I certainly wouldn’t do it with a bunch of strangers…. ummmm…. wait now, wha? *smile