Open Starbucks overheard conversation thread

Virginia Postrel relates a conversation she head while at a Los Angeles Starbucks: “Two screenwriters working over a script that features both the CIA and some kind of evil mercenary hired by…a pharmaceutical company.” For some reason, the Starbucks I occasionally frequent here in the Boston area has much stranger conversations than the Hyde Park ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

Virginia Postrel relates a conversation she head while at a Los Angeles Starbucks: "Two screenwriters working over a script that features both the CIA and some kind of evil mercenary hired by...a pharmaceutical company." For some reason, the Starbucks I occasionally frequent here in the Boston area has much stranger conversations than the Hyde Park Starbucks. In the fall, I overheard two IT consultants bemoaning the fact that some outfit in Sudan (???!!!) was getting a whole bunch of World Bank money that allowed them to be competitive in some niche market. I have no idea if this was true or not, but it safely distracted me from work for twenty minutes. Here's a good Monday question for readers -- what was the strangest conversation you have overheard in a coffee house?

Virginia Postrel relates a conversation she head while at a Los Angeles Starbucks: “Two screenwriters working over a script that features both the CIA and some kind of evil mercenary hired by…a pharmaceutical company.” For some reason, the Starbucks I occasionally frequent here in the Boston area has much stranger conversations than the Hyde Park Starbucks. In the fall, I overheard two IT consultants bemoaning the fact that some outfit in Sudan (???!!!) was getting a whole bunch of World Bank money that allowed them to be competitive in some niche market. I have no idea if this was true or not, but it safely distracted me from work for twenty minutes. Here’s a good Monday question for readers — what was the strangest conversation you have overheard in a coffee house?

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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