Drumm was intelligent, shrewd, and very pessimistic. He saw Charlie as the son he never had, and offered him the unsentimental advice to regard his Da as his enemy, someone who'd hold him back from succeeding in life. Drumm advised Charlie to emigrate from Ireland, which was no place for an ambitious young man. However, Charlie instead took a job as Drumm's clerk. He imagined the job would be only temporary, but he ended up working for Drumm for 14 years. Like his Da, Charlie kept an unprestigious, low-paying job far longer than he ever intended to.