A railroad parallel

The idea of being a "servant" carries something of a negative connotation to many folks these days, but as noted above it was actually a rather advantageous position...good to have friends in high places, etc.

In the old days on the railroad executive secretaries were in a similar position. Most folks these days don't tend to think of secretaries as fast track jobs (although a smart company man NEVER underestimates the power of the boss' secretary). In the old days secretaries to senior railroad officials were almost always male, because it usually involved a lot of travel together in office cars. And obviously it was an opportunity to get noticed by the folks in power. It was not unusual for these secretaries to get promoted into management. And back in those days there was a smaller percentage of college grads, so starting out as a lowly secretary was no big negative. It all depended on how smart you were and how hard you worked. In the early days of my railroad career it was not unusual to find a railroad VP or GM who had worked as an executive secretary earlier in his career.

JBWX