Originally Posted by Counsellor
Thanks so much for making me look forward for this. I'll be geting there after
40 hours of flights. :
Olga was insistent.
"You must pay now. Cash."
No matter that it is 3am and I've just arrived at the hotel in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, after a circuitous eight-hour flight from London and a two-hour visa queue at the airport.
Olga is on duty at the hotel and oblivious to the fact that I look, feel and probably smell like an over-boiled kipper. All she wants is money. I have to pay for my room in advance.
The old Soviet empire had a whole army of Olgas, matrons of all they surveyed, ready to terrorise guests at hotels across the USSR. Known as dezhurnaya - women on duty - they were placed on each floor as both receptionists and guards, reporting to higher authorities inside and outside the hotel about any suspicious behaviour among their charges.
etc, etc