Bernhardiner under the bridge

'Do you want to use the subway? It's not working today.'
The man standing in front of the subway's entrance informed me in Dutch. He was in his 50s and wore a fluorescent jacket. We talked for a while. When I told him I came for internship, it turned out he was a director of theatre . He took out a piece of paper and started to write me some information about whereabouts of important Dutch institutes connected with film and animation. I wondered why he is standing under the bridge and advise against using the underground just because it doesn't work. It seemed to be his sole work here. Maybe it's normal for the Dutch to have several jobs, like a theatre director or a businessman and, on the other hand, when the theatre is closed in summer, a kind of a blue-collar job, a manual worker, a cleaner. It reminded me of a joke. Do you know the story of a man who visited a Russian immigrant nightclub in Paris? The manager wanted to impress him: 'This doorkeeper - he says - was once a general, the waiter - a count, the singer - a great prince, and so on." The guest remained silent. Soon the manager pointed to a small dachshund which the guest brought along. "What's this?", he asked politely. "This one? He was before a Bernhardiner in Berlin", the guest replied.