FACEPALM for today...

Coffee. Many of us love it. It's yummy bitter/sweet with just the right amount of sugar. It's addictive so it rather sells itself. Now I have heard one story about a place like what I am about to describe, but I had yet to see one. The story goes like this. A mother that we know has a early 20s daughter. The daughter got a job at a coffee stand for some extra cash. Cool. These things are a dime a dozen up here in the Seattle area. The daughter, however, wouldn't tell the mom where it was. She kept avoiding the question. Well the mom being a female and all, figures out where it is without much problem and decides to drop by to see what the big secret it. When she pulls up to the coffee stand there is a long line of cars waiting at the stand. "Wow, must be amazing coffee" she says to herself as she thinks about the three or four semi empty stands she must have passed to get to this one. As she pulls up to the counter she suddenly gets it. There is her daughter, serving coffee, in.... lingerie. As the daughter sees mom her face turns white, blood runs cold etc... Fortunately this mother is a cool headed one. Otherwise I don't think the daughter would be alive now. That was a one off I was told by said mother about a year or so ago. Today my wife and I did a bunch of Geocaching out in Everett because Erin wanted to stop by a fabric store there. While driving around I was totally surprised and couldn't help but laugh at what I was seeing. 75% of the coffee stands were NOT selling coffee. They were selling sex. Why am I dumbfounded? I know sex sells and I know people buy. Coffee sells and people are hooked. I also know that if I were in sunny California in Redondo beach I would not be shocked at all to see some bikini clad babe selling ice cold soft drinks. It's the context AND the naming convention that has taken over that surprises me. I would be just as dumbfounded to see a cute chick in Alpine hiking gear at Redondo Beach on a hot summer day selling the same soft drinks. As I said, the names were the icing on the cake. Lets see, there was Bikini Baristas (two of these, must be a small chain), Bunny Baristas (perhaps this one is owned by Hugh himself? Not likely...) , and our all time favorite... Juggs Coffee. I mean that's balls, or Juggs as it were. The slogan on this primo establishment was "Some like it hot". Ha.......ha..................ha. "FACEPALM" The classy owner was even imaginative enough to paint it pink and have naked chick silhouettes on the sides... That's class. Am I ranting? No. Not at all. I just couldn't resist telling the story. It doesn't really shock me at all. It did at first because I had no idea it was so normal is some areas around me but once I thought about it I sort of shrugged it off. I think the part I don't get is that these shops are basically cutting out half of there customers. I mean women buy coffee too. I don't know the statistics, but I doubt that it's skewed so far off that appealing only to men is a better deal. I don't know. People will do what they want to make cash. From our friends story we learned that the girls get paid more cash at those stands. So apparently Al Bundy can now quit selling shoes and open a coffee stand in Everett called Biggens Bodacious Baristas and apparently pull in a decent living.