George and Lynne are at the reception of a hotel. George has asked the man at the front desk if they have a room with a view. The man returns the question by asking George to be more specific. George motions towards two scantily clad women and says he would like a view of women like them.George and Lynne have gone away but it must have been a very spontaneous decision as they have not reserved a room at the hotel. They have however packed three suitcases worth of clothes so it can't have been that spontaneous. Maybe George just completely forgot to book the hotel. He is nervous about the prospect of getting a room at short notice as he has decided to speak to the hotelier in a very casual over familiar way but combining the words do and you into d'you. Lynne looks a little cross and not very hopeful of getting that room.
They have gone on this extended break in England as the hotelier looks proper and speaks very good English. Of course there is no real way of knowing if he is speaking with an accent but he certainly understands George even though he is combining words in an underclass way. The name of the hotel begins with a K which implies that it could be Greek or Scandanavian, but we have no real way of knowing this.
George, although he has forgotten to book a room and how to speak, is still enough of a cad to bring two women to the attention of another man. Lynne looks cross. George wouldn't be smirking so much if he could actually see the faces of those women. He can only see their backs and believes them to be attractive. They are in fact just a couple of local transexual prostitutes who prey on married men. Lynne is not only cross that George is looking at other women, but that he has a thing for women who look like men.
The hotel name is a mystery to me. Perhaps the 'KA' are the second and third letters (a longer word would not fit on the sign and remain symmetrical with the HOTEL above it). If they were the first two letters, HOTEL KAFTAN would be a possibility, perhaps a hangover from the adventurous and exotic early 70's? HOTEL KABUL is another possibility, and every bit as exotic.
ReplyDeleteBreast implants were uncommon back in George and Lynne's time (which is why Lynne gets so much attention for her natural charms), so it's unlikely that the 'ladies' in the final panel are transsexuals. More likely they'll be what's known in the trade as "BOBFOCs". Body Off Baywatch, Face Off Crimewatch.
Additionally, "What sort of view?" does seem a silly question for a hotel reception staff team member to ask. Assuming we have established that George and Lynne want a window in their room with the request of a view, surely the receptionist won't force George to pedantically explain that the car park doesn't count as a 'view' in the eyes of a holidaying guest requesting a view.
ReplyDeleteI think we can assume that this is a fairly downmarket sort of hotel. No five star establishment would be likely to allow guests to wander around reception in bikinis. Perhaps it is in a seedy area and those women have the tired, beaten faces of aging, drug addled prostitutes. If this is the case, Lynne has every right to be angry with George. And he is showing a depraved side to himself that we really haven't seen much of before.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that man the florist?
ReplyDelete