You heard it here first!

Today we went for lunch at Le Meridien Hotel. Most of the hotels still have restaurants and coffee shops open during Ramadan, so we went there to their coffee shop. A group of three men arrived after us and sat at the next table - 1 British bloke and 2 Indian guys. They started going over plans and layouts for what transpired to be a new night club, we think at Capital Hotel. Now, the Capital Hotel has a somewhat dubious reputation for hosting some of the many ladies of the night to be found in various venues in the city. Caroline once went to one of the clubs there, Rock Bottom, on a work do - and apparently, it is!

Judging by the conversation we heard, this one will be no better. The British guy was an arse; arrogant, an undercurrent of racism and just generally came across as unpleasant. It made us sorry to be associated by country of origin. He was talking through how many staff he would need and in what roles. It would be mainly staffed by Filipinos who he was going on a trip next to recruit. Waitresses are to be offered 1500 Dhs a month (c.£260), they would need 6; 5 girls and one man “because you need to have something for the ladies” ! He would need a hostess at the door, a model who wouldn’t work for less than 2000 Dhs. The toilet attendant wouldn’t need a salary, they would just work for tips - “you’d be surprised how much they can earn” ! The main requirement for security on the door was not that they should be well trained etc etc, but that “he must wear a jacket” - this was repeated about 20 times!. The chef would only need to be a short order chef as he will only be cooking 8 items; fries, chicken wings etc. It seems he was only recruiting enough staff for 1 person on each role, therefore I guess these poor souls will be working 7 nights a week, with no cover for sickness etc.

Now - the pièce de résitance was that joining the hostess at the door will be ..... wait for it....... midgets ! I thought I had mis-heard him at first, but no, he said midgets. They would be a main attraction for the club - “people will come just to see the midgets” ! He had to explain to the Indian guys what he meant by midgets and I don’t think they quite got it. But they must be male midgets, “because girl midgets look weird and ugly, whereas boy midgets are better looking” !

They want to open the end of September - I think we may have to go just for the craic !