career opportunity

sebastian (30) is from dessau in east germany, therefore used to be almost my neighbour, and now lives in london, where he works as a butler. his masters are mainly investment bankers and other nouveau riche people with status anxiety, but sebastian himself is a traditionalist from his deferential attitude down to his impeccable manners. discretion is tantamount to butler honour. so far in summary my impressions from an interview in sueddeutsche.de

i was quite shocked at first to find a fellow east german that sounded so... uncritical, unpolitical and outright fawning over his rich clients (in fact, the words famous and rich featured a lot in the interview). then again, maybe the east german experience makes people perfectly suited for this type of employment. i remember a class reunion last october. 20 years! as we exchanged notes on our lives over the past 10 years since our last get-together (who has no kids or more than 3 kids, who is divorced, has the most money, is even famous?) i realised that my fellow ossis had secure jobs in the civil service, the health service, those who were self-employed were employment-lawyers... in other words, they mostly had played a safe career game. i was slightly bored, and very disappointed.

is this craving for job security a ddr legacy? did i miss something? the idea of safety and security over professional and personal fulfilment escapes me. i hope i'm not the only ossi who feels that way. but where do i find those who chose a life not tied to a safety line?