That summer, the farmer told me he was having a big party for all the villagers and would I like to come. I was touched that he’d invited me, so turned up on the night only to be handed a tray of drinks and told to circulate and provide people with food and drink. It turned out he’d done the same to his other tenant and several of his farm workers and we were only there as servants
Something similar happened to me, but at one remove, so to speak.
I had a friend who was a catering tutor. She used to cater parties etc "on the side" for people she knew, to make a bit of extra dosh.
She was doing a big outdoor party for the 50th birthday of an old friend of her partner's, that I'd met a few times many years earlier (the friend, that is, I'd known her partner for aeons) and told me that the host had invited me + 1 to the party, and that we could all pitch tents in their orchard and it'd be like a mini festival etc.
My then partner and I drove 100+ miles to get there and it was complete chaos when we arrived. The host didn't have a clue what he was doing and his wife was having some kind of screaming meltdown. My friend was up to her ears in the kitchen, trying to get the food prepped and in a blind panic, as the hosts' teens who were supposed to be helping her had fucked off out for the day.
I stepped up to help her cook, while our 2 partners plus another old friend cut the grass, fetched tables and chairs from the village hall, put up a stage and outside lighting, and fuck knows what else.
Finally, our tents were up and all was ready. We showered and changed and started to relax as the first couple of other guests arrived. As I walked across to the table full of drinks to top up my glass, the host asked me if I knew how to make a Kir Royale. I started to show him but he wandered off so I made 2 for the couple who'd just arrived.
Before I knew where I was, I had a fucking queue of people wanting Kir Royales and it slowly dawned on me they thought I was the hired help. After a couple more minutes I decided this was taking the piss and just told them all to help themselves and wandered off to enjoy myself.
I don't know how I restrained myself when some pompous arse accosted me and asked me to get a scotch & soda and a G&T for his wife. I just said "Sorry, but I'm a guest. I'm sure Host will show you where to get a drink".
Comparing notes it became obvious that all those of us who'd been invited at one remove, as it were, were treated as unpaid labour. Musician friends had been "invited" to bring their instruments in case they fancied "a jam" and were then treated like a hired band and asked what time they were going on stage. Two other friends had been asked to check people's invites on arrival, others were rowed into setting up gazebos and shite.
My friend was mortified, but she'd been taken for a ride just as much as the rest of us. The following morning, someone told the hosts' wife that we'd been treated like staff but had believed we'd been invited as guests and she went ballistic. She screamed and shouted at Host in 3 languages, shrieked about what a cheapskate and a skinflint he was, apologised profusely to all of us and was horrified by the whole business. She and host split up a few months later and he went bankrupt.
I'd forgotten all about that night until I read that post, but 25 years later I'm still not over his cheeky-fuckery.