Serve, v, to render assistence; to be of use; help.

Servant, n, a person in the service of another.

Servitude, n, slavery or bondage of any kind.

For several years I served drinks across the bar at the Woody Creek Tavern. I enjoyed that.

Working at the Community School it was common to hear teachers say that “They served the interests of the children.” There are a lot of relational rewards working with children, but in truth they were servants of the parents under the direction of their principal.

I served my country as a draftee during the Korean war. It was certainly servitude.

The President of Colorado Mountain College read books about “Servant Leadership.” She had been a school-teaching nun in an earlier life; I was a friendly critic of this approach to leadership and found she cried often after Board meetings.

Particularly in low paying non profit jobs such as teaching I observe the blurring between the words. Sometimes serving like at the bar, sometimes a servant to useless practices like a testing regime, and sometimes servitude because there’s just no way out.