Bikini Baristas

pic from Seattle Times

Mallar and I are rarely in a car. We mostly walk, bike and/or bus most places. In the event that we do need to drive, however, we will reserve a Zip car. Zip car is a car-sharing service that allows you to use a car without the hassle of owning it (or paying for gas or insurance). It's actually a rather genius system. Anyway, as we were on a little road trip this weekend in our Zip car, it occurred to me that I should write about the ubiquitous "espresso huts" that line most of the autoroutes in the Seattle-area.

Most of the coffee huts in the Seattle environs are pretty standard. You drive up and you order your triple short soy latte, or your tall americano or your "shot in the dark" (see this link for long list of Seattle coffee lingo), you pay, you tip -you drive away. In recent months however, there have been a number of stands that have gone "sexy".

In an effort to increase sales, many espresso huts have featured bikini-clad baristas -suggestively dressed young women who serve up a little cleavage with your java. This marketing "innovation" did raise a few eyebrows at first (especially in tourist areas where you would likely find young children). Things really became controversial a couple months ago, however, when it was uncovered that some of the bikini baristas were crossing the line for extra cash -offering "whip cream shows" and flashing their "privates". See this oh-so "classy" Fox news report about the scandal:

Here is link:
More than coffee