Early Bird Special

As someone in the service industry, I am very familiar with certain
promotions aimed at drawing in more customers. There are, of
course, the famed early bird specials that many restaurants (but not
the one I manage) have - discounted menu prices before the prime
rush time. Early Birds are aimed, for the most part, to senior citizens
or those on fixed incomes (or the tightwads?!?). Bars have Happy
Hours, where drinks and snacks are discounted; these promotions
are geared towards those folks just getting off work. But last week I
read about a very different version of the Early Bird Special in a
certain European country, and much to my shock, NOT Holland,
but in neighboring Germany! In the city of Cologne, a certain brothel
is offering pensioners a 50% discount for afternoon 'service' sessions;
all any senior needs to do is to provide proof that he is age 66 or
above. The website of this brothel has as it's slogan "Life Begins at
66!" Apparently it had started off as an experiment, with the reduced
price sessions occurring once a week. The demand was so high that
it was decided to offer the special prices everyday from noon to 5pm!
As a spokesman for the brothel stated, "Older folks are more active
than you think." Well I guess so, at least in Germany - I really am
still shocked this story didn't come out of The Netherlands! But I
guess I shouldn't be TOO surprised. The first time I ever flew the
German airline Lufthansa, I had a couple of eye-opening experiences.
First, I was amazed at the amount of beer the German passengers
drank.....in the morning for and after breakfast! Then, after landing
in Frankfurt, I used a restroom while waiting for my connecting
flight. Now I am sure most women have seen those boxes in the
restrooms that sell aspirin and tampons for emergencies. Well, the
restrooms boxes in the Frankfurt airport also sold various kinds of
condoms, included colored and flavored ones! And those Germans
have such a staid, hard image. Another strike against stereotypes!