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| - Ah, it's a beautiful day - you won an all-expense-paid trip to the Schwing-Ding Five-Star hotel! Aren't you excited? Odd how the Bellhops are wearing the same type of shirt as you do. Oh look, it's Lady Drunk coming right over - gee they're so - Oh? She wants you to walk her dog? Groom it? And there she goes, leaving the annoying yappy thing in your hands before your mouth could form around "Wait, I'm not...?". Congrats, you just got mistaken for the hired help! Notably, especially in older works - ethnicity is sometimes a factor whether or not someone is mistaken for the hired help.
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| abstract
| - Ah, it's a beautiful day - you won an all-expense-paid trip to the Schwing-Ding Five-Star hotel! Aren't you excited? Odd how the Bellhops are wearing the same type of shirt as you do. Oh look, it's Lady Drunk coming right over - gee they're so - Oh? She wants you to walk her dog? Groom it? And there she goes, leaving the annoying yappy thing in your hands before your mouth could form around "Wait, I'm not...?". Congrats, you just got mistaken for the hired help! This is an almost anytime, anywhere trope that can be Played for Laughs or could more rarely be used in more serious works. This tends to play out in four ways:
* The Helpless Everyman who is unable to correct the other person's error and ends up stuck with either a live creature they have to keep safe until they can give it back, or a valuable that's sought after by some less scrupulous fellows. Generally he gets no respect for the effort. Sometimes, if the person who mistook them for the help is a Jerkass, they can retaliate.
* The scoundrel who promptly takes advantage of the situation, generally to poke fun at the victim's supposed bias or stupidity - such as a wealthy older man who presumes that a younger person at the posh club is a valet and gets his Mercedes-Benz stolen.
* A Prince and Pauper situation where for one reason or another, a person of status is mistaken for a servant, or even a slave and is forced to work - learning humility and kindness toward the lower class.
* The character is a spy, or has another reason to want access to a certain person's possessions, and just happens to be mistaken for the hired help for the fancy dinner bash the other person is throwing. Notably, especially in older works - ethnicity is sometimes a factor whether or not someone is mistaken for the hired help. Examples of Mistaken for Servant include:
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