The girl was clever, had good skill, and had worked in a host of good restaurants, some of which I had worked in myself.

After the usual chit chat, The Boss is about to close the deal. He pops out his Mont Blanc, and brings out the contract. As he writes, he asks, ‘Remind me again: how old are you?’ ‘29’ comes the answer. ‘I just moved into the area recently with my fiancée. We’re saving up you see.’ The Mont Blanc stops scribbling abruptly, and you could immediately sense that something has gone wrong. ‘Saving for what, exactly?’ The Boss queries, never looking up, just staring at the half completed paperwork.

‘Oh well. We’ve just bought a new house now and we’re just planning our wedding.’ ‘Aha. You must be well excited, are you not?’, continued The Boss, closing the contract firmly and placing it back in his folder. I look on incredulously. ‘Yes we are’, she answered. She looked on as The Boss slowly stands up and headed towards the door to open it in fake courtesy. ‘That’s nice. Well, I have some other people lined up now; we’ll keep you posted.’ Erica looks at him intently, realising something had gone wrong, but just stands up in silence and leaves.

The door closed behind her and The Boss looked at me. ‘You never told me about that’ he fumed. ‘Don’t do that again. Don’t raise her hopes up for nothing. I can’t believe you didn’t see through that.’ I had no idea what to say. ‘If she’s as good as you say she’ll be in a superior position in a few months. By that time she’ll get married, get knocked up, and take maternity leave while I’m paying her a management salary while having one manager missing. She’s out.’

In a day and age when the entire world professes the philosophy of equality to its students, in reality, life says that equality between the sexes does not, and will not, exist. The fact is that men and women were not born the same, and women sometimes have it better, or worse, than us men. We - you, me - are never on equal terms. The equality between the sexes is just as fictional as two best friends of the opposite sex being just well, best friends.

From a male perspective, femininity balances out the work force, creating a more pleasant working environment. Women sometimes are used as the secret sales weapon in the industry. If there’s a loaded American who never spends anything, maybe we should send the pretty brunette to sell him champagne and caviar. It always works. Unless he’s gay. Women also excel in the jobs that men are utterly useless in. Linen, organising the bookings, and just being neat and elegant in general to name just a few. Nevertheless, needed as they are, men never hand it easy. There is the natural sexist phenomenon known as flavour of the month syndrome. You know what that is. A new waitress comes in and you see them swarming. First the Italians and the married men, soon followed by the rest, all gazing pathetically with puppy dog eyes and offering her all sorts of friendship and shoulders and swooning around with little compliments. Please. The girl is taken back by such gentry and feels like Kate Winslet on the Titanic, until the men spot the newer girl sitting on the iceberg in the horizon, and flock to greet her, discarding her like a squeezed lemon, having had their fill of lemonade.

Then of course, there’s the Alpha Male. In such a physically hard and military-style industry, you’ll find plenty of tough guys that don’t take any talk from ‘them women.’ Here’s Leo, one of the Head Waiters. ‘I’m not doing what Karla asked. She didn’t say please. And she talks too much.’ By talking too much he means that Karla realised he’s a lazy bastard and is doing her job by pushing his buttons to make him work. The workhorses (commis and helpers) don’t like women either, save to look at. ‘They don’t carry all the chairs and tables like we do. Equality my ass’ they say. To a certain degree, they’re right. Funnily enough, I can’t help observing that women take on the jobs that men hate. ‘I’m not counting linen today. It’s gay. I don’t want to light the candles. I’m not cleaning the bar. I’d rather carry the chairs and tables.’

Guests seem to appreciate the female presence in the workforce too. They add an element of charm, elegance, and dare I say it, sexiness to the place. Dr Zoran may correct me if I’m wrong, but apparently pets respond better to soft female voices, so if Darwin is correct, it always helps to have a girl on the team.

Surprisingly though, the demographic that detests women the most is, yes, women themselves. I asked two females whether or not they find it easy being a girl in a male dominated industry. Morgan, an Australian head waitress, says that it’s difficult being a girl in Europe. ‘In Australia I don’t have these sorts of problems. Men in Europe have trouble in addressing women as their equal. It’s too traditional as a culture. Women here are too emotional, which makes matters worse. When you’re running a tight ship, you need to be strict and iron clad. When I’m hard on a girl, she cries. When I’m hard on a guy, they do not pay heed to me. They have trouble in taking direction from a woman. But I’d take on working with men rather than women any day. I roll with the big dogs, not small fry. If you make it in a male dominated environment, you can make it anywhere.’

‘It depends on what type of woman you are’ emphasises Anna, standing tall in her magnificent beauty. Anna is Russian (earning her the nickname of Soviette) who also did a stunt in the Russian Military for two years. She has deathly blue eyes that stare down at you menacingly, as though she would easily choke slam anyone Undertaker-style in the WWE. Hard as a nut, Soviette has a very demanding presence wherever she goes, and when I need a job done, she’s always the man to see it through. Except she’s not a man. ‘I would never take any woman in my team. They are useless, have limited knowledge, and all they do is distract the male workforce. Nothing gets done if there are too many women.’

The fact is that women know that they have a tough life, but cunning as they are, they also know that the more shit you go through, the stronger you become. Is this the reason why they do not want more women in the team? Is it some kind of internal competition?

‘We face a gruelling test series,’ concludes Soviette, ‘and by the time I’m through, you know I’d be inevitably stronger than the men, better conditioned, and more respected.’

For some reason I suddenly feel afraid.