In the runup to New Year's in Casablanca we saw our business affected by waves of rumors of "attacks" that could come at any time. We might have a busy Monday, but a normally charged Friday night would be dead. I don't have patience with reacting to the unknown, evidenced by deciding to stay in Morocco after the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. I remember attending the reopening party of one of the restaurants targeted in the May 16 Casablanca attacks. Leaving the party at about 11pm I walked out to a main street to look for a cab back to my apartment. Not finding one right away I continued to walk the deserted streets...I was a bit surprised there wasn't that much traffic as Casablanca is usually humming all night long...in the end I walked all the way back to my apartment, not feeling a bit afraid. A month later (this was during the construction phase of Rick's) I made a dinner engagement with a friend from the U.S. and called a favorite restaurant for a reservation. Having made myself a social outcast during the project development period, I hadn't been going out and when I called the restaurant for a reservation two days in advance I prayed they still had a table. "No problem," they said for the table for two at 8:30pm. We met for drinks before dinner, and I called to make sure the table was still reserved, advising we'd be a bit late. When we arrived at 9pm there were no other clients! "What's happened?", I asked Nadine, the owner. She explained since the attacks of May 16 people in Casablanca weren't going out at night - their lunch business was ok, but the evenings were very, very slow. This lovely restaurant in a restored Art Deco home with a picturesque garden and excuisite French cuisine was victim of people's unfounded fears. When Rick's opened six months later and people came at night in droves other restauranteurs in Casablanca thanked me for "getting people to go out at night again." So when we started to see this rumor mill starting I thought it might be a good idea to line up some uniformed police out front to augment our security agents and give an added sense of security. Little would anyone suspect this would be not to alleviate the concerns of the tourists who flock to Morocco and love their experience and see what a great country it is, but to calm down the residents of Casablanca! Even though I was continually reasured by the authorities there was nothing to worry about, in light of the rumors I needed to do something. I presented a letter to the office of the Governor of Casablanca asking for uniformed police on New Year's Eve. I had someone trace the letter a few days later and learned it was in "General Affairs." When there was no response by the morning of December 31 I went in person to the Governor's office. Surprised to see the place nearly deserted I finally found someone to whom I could present a second letter repeating our need for uniformed presence. It was encouraging in a way to see the place quiet. But of course I experienced the usual frustrations as they attempted to trace my letter and whether or not my request would be granted. Repeatedly I had been assured that we were protected descretely, but this time I said it was more important to have the uniforms out front to perhaps discourage an incident, rather than have someone close to respond after the fact. They traced my letter from the Casablanca Governor's office, to general affairs, to the Governor of central Casablanca, and finally to the Prefet de Police - not Captain Renault! The city official suggested I go there to follow up and gave me a general police number to call if there was a problem. I said I could not take the time to go to Police Headquarters and repeat the process, so would take my chances and hope to live to January 1! Of course this freaked him out and we exchanged mobile phone numbers. Well. At 6:30 the fun started. A team of police from the Prefet arrived with two sniffer dogs who scoured the restaurant...our staff were impressed. They deposited two officers. Just before opening a team from the Governor's office arrived and were stationed in front. Our clients arrived - and departed - safe, secure, happy and I think resolved to make 2006 a year of living normally. H |
