The Butler’s Life
I thought I’d make an excellent butler when I read Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day back in high school. While I sort of suck at keeping an expressionless face, I’m excellent at being silent for hours at a time. I enjoy keeping things neat and organized. No one remembered me at my high school reunion, proving that I am good at being invisible.
But I recently read an article about what it takes to be a butler. The instructor (because, yes, there are butler schools) posed a question about your child at the hospital and asked what you would do. “If your answer was ’I would leave,’ this life’s not for you.” Touché.
Still, I love this thought: “A happy butler is a Buddhist monk in tails, taking pleasure in the duty itself. Serving, but never servile.”
If I had a couple of thousand lying around, I would send myself to butler school to see if I have what it takes. Maybe they’ll teach me how to keep a straight face.
5 comments
“You’ll buttle like you did before.” — just gotta throw in some Andrew Lloyd Weber when possible.
The subjugating your own reasonable needs — to be with a sick child, or to hide a Trump-like expression when a sheik gets you out of bed to turn out his light — does sound servile to me.
I know I don’t have what it takes. Bleh.
Nope, couldn’t do it. I’m all about neat and organized, but keeping my mouth shut and forgoing being there for my kids wouldn’t happen.
Yeah, I definitely don’t have what it takes. I watched the PBS series “Manor House” awhile ago and I remember so clearly how the servants had to make themselves invisible unless the master/mistress required them for some reason. Several of those cast as servants found it utterly dehumanizing, and I think I would as well. Also, not going to loved ones in the hospital…nope, nope, nope. An interesting article though, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading.
Like Lori Lavender Luz above, I also thought of the Andrew Lloyd Webber when I read this :).
Nope, I don’t have what it takes either. I’ve left jobs because I couldn’t keep a straight face – or more accurately, refrain from rolling my eyes or speaking out of turn – when I had lost respect for the people and organisations I worked for. And yet I think I am generally one of the most tolerant and polite people you might meet!
Well, I know I wouldn`t make the cut. For one thing, I have a vvery difficult time hiding my feelings… my face shows EVERYTHING, no matter how much I struggle to conceal my feelings… just ask dh. 😉
Katherine, I watched `Manor House`some years ago too, and loved it!