Way to go "sexpresso" girls

The latest fad sweeping espresso stands across the nation is "sexpresso." Busty baristas at drive-thru coffee stands have been dressing in lingerie, bikinis and even have "theme days." You know, Playboy-style sex fantasies, like naughty school girl and sexy secretary. And Seattle, most notable for its number of coffee stands, is the perfect setting for this new trend. Damn our rival city to the west for inventing yet another brilliant enterprise. Seattle is home to Starbucks, Microsoft and Grey's Anatomy. And now "sexpresso," coffee served with more perks than just caffeine. Before you start thinking I'm going to write this opinion piece as an angry feminist, hell-bent on accusing every man of being a pig and every blonde of being a bimbo, think again. I applaud these pioneers of the "sexpresso" revolution. The coffee stand owners and workers are using the most important part of a woman's body, her brain. (Get your mind out of the gutter. I know I lost half of you at "Playboy-style sex fantasies" and you're mapping out a President's Day weekend road trip to the coffee shops of Seattle's suburbs.)

These highly intelligent women are cashing in on what everyone has always known, but hardly ever talks about: sex sells. The girls of the coffee stand craze aren't doing anything illegal. I'll argue it's a little immoral, but that is for the individual to decide.

In a city where there's an espresso stand every 20 blocks, owners say they had to do something to attract and keep customers. Now they've got caffeine addicts AND sex addicts to fill the tip jars. And that has the granita goddesses saying, "Thanks a latte."

I don't see anything wrong with Tube-Top Tuesday, Wet T-shirt Wednesday or Fantasy Friday because I refuse to stereotype the "sexpresso" stand workers. I like to think of them as the Bridget Marquardts of the world. Marquardt is Hugh Hefner's girlfriend and star of The Girls Next Door. Marquardt, 31, has a B.A. in public relations, a master's degree in communications and is currently working towards another masters in broadcast journalism. She's an intelligent woman who happens to pose nude for Playboy. You can't hate these girls for being beautiful and using their God-given (and sometimes not-so-natural) gifts to pay their way through college.

As for the people who feel it degrades and objectifies women, it's those people who degrade the girls. If someone objectifies the "sexpresso" staff, then it's that person's perception that is skewed. Don't think for one second that a girl in pink panties and a negligee doesn't know what she's doing. She knows all right. I think these mocha maidens are geniuses. Cafes have tried to entice customers by selling second-hand books, pottery and art. And of course there's the really, really bad live bands, which I cannot honestly say pack cafes with generous clientele. Until now no one had thought of combining coffee with sex. This is not to be confused with patrons exposing themselves to the coffee shop workers. I'm referring to the pervy patron at the Airway Heights Starbucks who thought it was OK to take off his pants and fondle himself for the women there.This is illegal and wrong.

However, the perky people of the "sexpresso" stands don't have any legal worries. They're making people's day brighter through the magic of Italian-style java and a double shot of flirting.