What Does "Butler" Mean to You?

Sebastian Michaelis Cosplay

Anime Sebastian Michaelis

It's very difficult to have adventures when one is struggling with depression caused by various other health issues. I've been feeling a little better lately, so I started doing some more things with my adventure partners!

For example, I went shopping at the closest mall to me (Valley Hills Mall) with my little sister last Wednesday. It was a normal shopping trip for the most part--and it was the first time I drove my Jeep on the interstate for a long-ish distance! But my blood sugar was too high to drive home after we finished our mall crawl, so she came up with an awesome idea.

Before I tell you what her idea was, I have to explain why she had it to begin with. Autumn's favorite thing to do is watch anime. (Discuss anime. Cosplay. Write about anime. Fangirl. Make edits for her anime pages on facebook--yeah, you get it.) One of her favorite anime characters is Sebastian Michaelis, the demon Butler from Black Butler with fantastically good looks. An Otaku girl's dream event is a "Butler Cafe," in which a host of attractive young cosplayers dress up as Butlers and wait on their every need. So I decided I would host a Butler Cafe for my sister as a belated birthday gift. (It has become a community event and will be held July 2nd. If you would like to attend, please email me and I will keep you updated!)

We have discovered that not a whole lot of people know what a Butler Cafe is really supposed to be, Autumn thought it would be a good idea to walk around the mall and survey people's impression of the term "Butler." There were an overabundance of people who see a butler only as an old English guy that does house chores for you. Sure, that is what a Butler can be, but that is not what a Butler should be. Someone said that a Butler is a "member of the family," and another person said that a butler "is someone that helps you out when you need it." That is more like what I want people to think about when they consider "Butler." Someone that you can depend on. A loyal companion, even when no one else is.

That is definitely hard to capture in a 1-day event, but it's the idea that I want my guests to leave with. In order to discover how to market that, Autumn and I literally walked all the way around the mall--twice--and asked everyone the question "What does Butler mean to you?" And then we proceeded to Morganton and asked everyone in our area the same question. Literally, everyone. Again, everyone considers a butler as a background figure. But a butler in the anime sense is way more than that! That is what we told people when they asked why we were doing a survey, and then we were able to do some free marketing for the Butler Cafe.

A Sebastian Quote

What I learned from this experience:

Several things were brought to my attention through this idea.

First thing was that anime and the fandoms typically bring people out of their shells. Like, Autumn kind of has anxiety when she has to talk to people she doesn't know very well. But when she's talking about the fandom and her Butler Cafe, she's not even nervous. It's amazing to see how it shifts comfort zones so easily. It's like therapy.

The second thing was that it's rather fun to do something totally random without any hesitation. Our spontaneous craziness was the most entertaining thing that week. I enjoyed talking to people and learning things about them, and about how to market pretty much anything. Asking a single question can answer a lot of problems in the marketing/research world, so I have discovered.

A third thing was that not that many people know what a Butler Cafe is, or much about the Fandoms at all. If people understood the freedom that comes from belonging to the fandoms, they might not be so hesitant to participate. The event that I am planning is meant to make people feel loved (by way of pampering), regardless of anything else that they have going on at that point in time. Everyone needs that and that is what the fandoms are for. It is also what family is for. 

I also learned that sister-dates are good therapy, and I was in desperate need of an escape from my mind. It has been a long month, but I'm feeling much better lately. It is very important for me not to be alone when I am feeling lonely, and I guess I needed to realize that.

My advice to you: anything can turn into an adventure. You just have to learn to be spontaneous, and say yes to the crazy ideas every once in a while. Everything is a learning opportunity, and sometimes it can be fun and rewarding!