Judith Martin writes that the answering machine is to the contemporary middle-class household just the same as butlers had been to the rich in earlier times: it is the gatekeeper that screens welcome visitors from unwanted intruders on the privacy of the family.
a) just the same as butlers had been
b) just like a butler was
c) as has been a butler
d) what the butler was
e) what the butler is
a) just the same as butlers had been
b) just like a butler was
c) as has been a butler
d) what the butler was
e) what the butler is
