Paddy’s, the pub where I couldn’t spend my money

As soon as I arrived in Enschede, model Diana picked me up at the station - and we left my make-up suitcase at her home, we went out. She was about to show me her city, mainly the places where she goes out with her friends. One of those places was the Irish pub called “Paddy’s”, where 2 bouncers stood in a front of the door. They had a thiny white headphones in their ears.

Diana: “Wait, there is something I have to tell you about the place.”
Me: “Go ahead, tell me…”
Diana: “It’s a nice club, but they have strict policy for guys.”
Me: “Like what?”
Diana: “They are most probably going to ask you to show them your identity document.”
Me: “Which I don’t have with me, as my passport is at ‘Visa Service’ office in Breda right now, haha. But is that the only issue?”
Diana: “No. Sometimes they just refuse to let some people in, for no obvious reasons.”
Me: “Also the girls?”
Diana: “No, boys only.”
Me: “Strange, like… hmmm, give me an example.”
Diana: “Once or twice I wanted to go in with a black guy, a friend of mine. But they wouldn’t let him in..”
Me: “Because of his skin color?”
Diana: “I don’t know, could be… But they will never admit that. They’ll always give some other stupid argument, like wrong shoes, wrong jacket color or similar…”
Me: “Oh, well…”

Diana took me under my arm, leaned her body slightly towards my shoulder and pushed me forward. “Maybe this is gonna work.. let’s try it”, she said.
Me (*laughing*): “Alright, let’s see.. I’m curious.”

Tall, bold bouncer at the door: “Your ID card please.”
Me: “I don’t have it with me right now. Are my bank cards good enough?” (*smile*)
Tall, bold bouncer at the door: “No, they are not.”
Me (to Diana): “Then I guess we should spend our money elsewhere.”
Diana: “Hmmm, yes, let’s move on.”
Me: “How about this one at our left (* also Irish pub next to Paddy’s, called Molly Malone *)?”
Diana: “What sort of pubs do you like?”
Me: “Let’s take a look first. I’ll know if it’s my type of pub or not, once we’re in.”

Sweet Molly Malone

The pub was called: Molly Malone (www.molly-malone.nl), named after Irish traditional “Sweet Molly Malone” song and a well known Molly Malone (girl with a fish car) statue in Dublin.

Sweet Molly Malone, video.

“Please have a seat, I’ll bring you your drinks within a minute”, one of the barkeepers said to me while ordering. So I went back to the table I picked out with Diana. “It’s definitely my type of pub!” I said to Diana and we laughed.

Once the barkeeper brought our drinks, we started to have a fun.. Diana told the barkeeper how idiot idea it was that they wouldn’t let us to enter Paddy’s. “It’s obvious that Alexander is older then 21, they shouldn’t even bother to ask him his ID.” Diana said.

The barkeeper mesured me first and then he said: “Perhaps they didn’t like your long hair or even your shoes.”

“Perhaps they didn’t like me at all.” I answered. (*smile*)
We all laughed.

The next moment Diana was sending sms to her friends in Paddy’s. 3 of them came to us a couple of minutes later. So I ended up in sweet Molly Malone, having a good time with 4 girls. Two barkeepers at Molly were more then glad to have us in their pub. Sorry Paddy’s… stupid decision. Very stupid one!

An hour or two later, Diana’s friends suggested we should still go to Paddy’s (they wanted to dance). “There is no way they’ll not let you in now you’re with 4 girls”, one of them said.

“I won’t even try. I don’t want to spend my money in a snobish pub as Paddy’s, I don’t want to encourage such a policy and behavior they have. And above of all, Diana and I have to go and have some sleep. We have a photoshoot tomorrow morning.” I replied.

That night I crashed on Diana’s guest room couch and the next morning we went to Germany (Castrop/Rauxel), where we had a great shoot with photographer Uwe Wortmann.

Paddy’s is not the only one!

Unfortunately, Paddy’s is not the only one!
Once I came back home, I searched the web for more info about Paddy’s and I found out, they were not the only ones living in a stone age.

Owner Dennis Kooy (disco Lunátic) says that he has no problem with (* moslim *) women with headscarves. “But sometimes I will indeed refuse. If the pressure in the club is to high or there are too many foreigners in, I’ll deny them the access. The disco is not a public place where everyone goes. If I have a club of thirty farmers from Achterhoek at the door I’ll not let them in either. I do not want the dominant groups inside, which may cause problems.”

(Source: www.ontsluiert.nl / Twentse Tubantia Courant, September 23, 2004)

Photoshoot in Germany

Credits:
Photographer: Uwe Wortmann, Studio Keepsmile (www.fotostudio-keepsmile.de), Castrop/Rauxel Germany.
Model: Diana DM (www.miss-d.magix.net)

In “Studio Keepsmile”, model Diana.

Diana, wearing black nightdress.

Diana, wearing silver gala dress.

Diana, artistic topless.

Artistic naked, high key.

Diana and me, backstage.