Brothels prepared for pilgrims

Here at the Corker office, we tracked a story circulated by the media that the brothels in Sydney had to increase staff numbers this weekend in order to deal with an expected influx of work due to World Youth Day.

By Lizza Gebilagin

We assumed there couldn’t have been any truth to the rumour, but being the curious journalists that we are (and here we use the term “journalist” rather loosely), we had to double check anyway. So we called four local brothels.

ESP Erotic Massage in Crows Nest said that they didn’t increase staff numbers, but suggested that the others might have done so. Club 121 in Darling Harbour, which is located right in the heart of where many World Youth Day events took place, didn’t increase staff numbers either and high-class joint Tiffany’s in Surry Hills, located on the pilgrim path for the final mass, refused to comment. The brothel in the midst of all the media coverage, Xclusive in Bondi, confirmed that they had increased staff numbers during the week because of an increase of patrons. But then admitted, “[The numbers increased] probably because we have just opened and we advertised a lot too.”

After the excitement faded and the rumour proved to be a dud, it didn’t make much sense anyway. How could pilgrims possibly pay for prostitutes when cab drivers were complaining all week that they didn’t have any work because kids were just catching buses? The pilgrims weren’t skipping cab rides because they were saving money to pay for booty. They simply didn’t have the money to spend. No money for a cab, means no money for ladies that charge by the hour.

Verdict: This rumour has been busted. Then again, there were 3,000 to 5,000 media here to cover the event, and we all know how sex-starved journalists can be…

Additional reporting by Michael Huynh