I cannot talk for your the grand parent, but I can think of a million reasons to have such a job. Great colleagues, good benefits (vacation, health-care, etc.), tied to a small town without good opportunities, ...

By the way, fixing other people's bugs and tech support may not always be quite as boring and demeaning as you make it out to be.

Your disdain for menial work is misguided. There's more to life than your work.