The House Boy is required to be responsive to all requests for his labor or use, regardless of whether they can be granted or not. When a friend or house guest – or even a stranger – makes a verbal or written request for assistance or to borrow the boy, the House Boy is required to respond or refer the request to the Master for a decision. This rule applies both at home and away from home when traveling with the Master.

In the example photo, the Master and the boy have just finished purchasing supplies at Home Depot and then head over to McDonald’s for a quick bite to eat on the way home. The boy wheels the car to the drive-thru to order and sees a sign that McDonald’s is out of ‘Boy Toys’. The House Boy chuckles, acknowledging the double meaning of the paper sign. The Master chooses to interpret the boy’s giggling as referring to a McDonald’s request for Boy Toys to the Master for a decision and orders the House Boy to identify himself as a ‘Boy Toy’ to the young man taking the order. Hilarity ensues, the Master and the House Boy eventually leave with a bagged lunch – and a note containing the phone number of the young employee who blushingly admitted that he didn’t have a Whopper but could gladly fill an order for a Big Mac with extra sauce. Predicaments like these are rare, but the Master is always on the lookout for opportunities to make new friends, and the House Boy is subject to discipline for failure to respond to any request, even when it’s made using slightly different words like ‘Boy Toy’.

At home, it is common for a guest to ask the boy for assistance with minor tasks like bringing in items from the car, and the boy will cooperate and assist whenever practical. When the request is for something that requires permission from the Master, consent by law, or the boy to leave the property, these requests must be referred to the Master. The use of laughter or giggles to convey a request may result in an unexpected response from the Master. ;-)