By Kazuo Ishiguro

I watched an interview with the author, in which he said about how we are all butlers in the sense that we believe that our jobs are sacred and important and try to do it the best we can. Could Kazuo’s butler have been happier had he not been so insistent on how important it is to be professional in butling?

… “Now, look, mate, I’m not sure I follow everything you’re saying. But if you ask me, your attitude’s all wrong, see? Don’t keep looking back all the time, you’re bound to get depressed. And all right, you can’t do your job as well as you used to . But it’s the same for all of us, see? We’ve all got to put our feet up at some point. Look at me. Been happy as a lark since the day I retired. All right, so neither of us are exactly in our first flush of youth, but you’ve got to keep looking forward.” And I believe it was then that he said: “You’ve done your day’s work. Now you can put your feet up and enjoy it. That’s how I look at it. Ask anybody, they’ll all tell you. The evening's the best part of the day”.