I Work at Dunder Mifflin

I've received this e-card from more than one friend and yes, I know it's well deserved. I have no problem confessing I make extremely frequent comments about how similar my office is to The Office. The Office is one of my current favorite TV shows for many reasons but I think the #1 reason has to be because it's so true! While the show may seem to some like an extreme satire version of what working in an office is like; in my experience it's actually eerily close to the real thing. I've worked in three offices during my life and the current is definitely the most similar. I think we have almost all the same characters and even some personalities that are so classic they should be characters on the show. We have the same phones they use, we frequent at Chili's, have company outings, practical jokes and pranks, motivational tools, office romances, and birthdays in the conference room, just to name a few of the parallels.

Another aspect that I think The Office illustrates so well and true to reality is the relationship between coworkers. As much as I sometimes gripe about the actual work part of my job (since more often than not it tends to feel/seem a little meaningless), these "characters" that I work with are really great and I'm fortunate to work with them. I relate to the show because even though Michael, Andy, Dwight, and crew are all crazy in some way or another, their coworkers know and can tell they mean well. I feel like the same is true for my current office environment, the intention behind giving paper money as a motivational tool to then earn company-logoed merchandise is nice; it's just also pretty ridiculous and not very effective at motivating because who really wants 32 company logoed polo shirts? Yet, I know they mean well and having worked in offices where people don't care at all I'd say it's not something I want to take for granted.

I could go on about everything else I love in the show i.e. John Krasinski, but I'll save some stuff for other posts...until then TGIF. :)