At CIA Starbucks, even the baristas are covert

[BlueStateSaint]

Kinda interesting.  Also, kinda funny.

At CIA Starbucks, even the baristas are covert

By Emily Wax-Thibodeaux         September 27 at 7:32 PM

The new supervisor thought his idea was innocent enough. He wanted the baristas to write the names of customers on their cups to speed up lines and ease confusion, just like other Starbucks do around the world.

But these aren’t just any customers. They are regulars at the CIA Starbucks.

“They could use the alias ‘Polly-O string cheese’ for all I care,” said a food services supervisor at the Central Intelligence Agency, asking that his identity remain unpublished for security reasons. “But giving any name at all was making people — you know, the undercover agents — feel very uncomfortable. It just didn’t work for this location.”

This purveyor of skinny lattes and double cappuccinos is deep inside the agency’s forested Langley, Va., compound.

Welcome to the “Stealthy Starbucks,” as a few officers affectionately call it.

Naturally, there's no pictures . . . but the link is below.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/at-cia-starbucks-even-the-baristas-are-covert/2014/09/27/5a04cd28-43f5-11e4-9a15-137aa0153527_story.html

[Eupher]

Some friends who live in Portland, OR, not-too-affectionately refer to that coffee chain as "Charbucks." It's about right.