Friday, October 17, 2008

Relationship Disconnect?

This weeks episode revolved around a baby shower Michael was throwing for his ex-girlfriend's (Jan's) baby, which was concieved from an anonymous sperm bank donor. Despite having no real ties to the baby, Michael was determined to have a relationship with the child. Wanting to make a good impression on the Jan, Michael told Holly, the office HR rep, who he is attracted to, that he was going to treat her poorly, so Jan would not feel jealous in any way. By the end of the episode however, Micheal realizes that he has no attachment to the baby. Before leaving the office, Jan tells Michael that under no circumstances would she except him dating Holly. In response Michael asks Holly out on a date.

It has taken Michael quite a few episodes to actually ask Holly out. If will be interesting to see if the relationship works because she actually appears to value his company, unlike Jan.

The episode also featured several calls that Pam (the former recptionist turned art college student) and Jim (still back at the office) made to one another. They are attempting to make their long distance relationship work. Pam told Jim a story over the phone, but it was too confusing and he wasn't fully paying attention so he didn't really understand the point of the story. They tried to contact eachother at other points in the day, but could never manage to get in touch with one another.

Watching Jim and Pam reminded me of my personal experiences with friends going off to university. Unless a real concerted effort is made, it is easy to lose touch with friends separated over a long distance. Tools such as Facebook help, but sill it is difficult to have the same type of relationship with someone whom you no longer see in person.

Funny moment of the week:
Dwight trying to prove that Jan's $1,200 stroller was indeed destructable. It wasn't.

2 comments:

jjccjc said...

I agree, maintainig relationships involves an effort. If it is only onesided then eventually the relationship dissolves into only memories. Once we lose touch with someone we no longer have anything in common with them and can only rely on remember when stories.

Mimi said...

$1200 strollers are silly.

Also, Julia, I have a The Office poster sitting around. Do you want it?