I live in the hills, and one of the local papers is the "Echo". The above is the headline of the major story on the front page of the current issue. Apparently there are a number of "concerned business owners and residents" who think it's getting out of hand.
There are some interviews with people - for example a school mum who is shocked when a "family member" who "uses these places" told her what went on, and that in fact there was not an epidemic of back pain due to the hard working nature of the Midland population. Or the guy who was struck with neck pain after work one day. He went in to a massage place for a neck massage after calling his boyfriend who assured him it was "probably legit". After a nice neck massage the girl whispered "want happy ending" in his ear, after which he quickly put on his shirt and scurried out. Maybe if the girl had been a guy...
The council and police were interviewed and both seemed pretty uninterested in doing anything.
The whole piece came off as an attempt by a reporter to drum something up for the front page. Still might stir a bit of action from the council just so they can say they did something. I'm sure they can find a few councilors to sacrifice some work time to check a few places out on a taxpayer funded mission. I can just imagine a guy coming back with a big grin on his face - "that place is fine, but I saw a few other places that I think I should check out next."
Anyway hope the shops see the paper and maybe take a bit of extra care the next week or two!
