The CIA Has Its Own High-Security Starbucks
Even spies need their morning coffee
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It turns out that spies are just like the rest of us. Not only do they put their pants on one leg at a time (we think) but they also are regular Starbucks customers. Only the most convenient Starbucks to their workplace is a special Starbucks at the CIA headquarters, the Washington Post reports.
Starbucks has over 21,000 stores in 65 countries, and plenty of those outposts are in weird locations, including high-security places like airports. But the Starbucks location at CIA headquarters still stands out. Emily Wax-Thibodeaux of the Post describes one of the most secure Starbucks on the planet, where the patrons take their coffee breaks from covert affairs.
From the Washington Post:
The baristas go through rigorous interviews and background checks and need to be escorted by agency “minders” to leave their work area. There are no frequent-customer award cards, because officials fear the data stored on the cards could be mined by marketers and fall into the wrong hands, outing secret agents.
There are also no names on the cups (on the plus side, that means no misspellings), and the baristas are warned to report if their friends and family start getting a little too curious about their place of work.