Saturday, November 22, 2008

Coworker Conundrum

In this weeks episode, Michael was ouraged to learn that Toby (whom he strongly dislikes) has returned to work. Funnily enough, Toby had been back at the office for a whole week before Michael realized he was there. Throughout the episode, Michael schemed with Dwight to get Toby fired. Michael even went to the extreme of planting weed in Tody's desk, but when Dwight called in the cops on Toby, they were surprised to learn that the supposed weed was actually salad.

Meanwhile, Pam was distraught to learn that one of her coworkers had left the microwave in a digusting mess. Her solution was to leave a note for her coworkers, reminding them that the microwave is a shared office space, and everbody needs to clean up after themselves. However, upon learning about the note the other coworkers were more offended by the note than the mess.

The coworker incidents mentioned in this episode remind me of some of my own work experiences. Unfortunately, in most work situations, we do not get to choose who we work with, and therefore, we may be stuck with a coworker we do not get along with. Something as simple as lack of courteousness with cleaning up messes can lead to great disharmony among coworkers. For instance, as a summer day camp supervisor, I had to deal with staff members who often left messes around, behaving as though they were not responsible for cleanup. I often wondered, who they expected to follow after them and clean up their messes.

Funny Moment of the Week:
Michaels reaction upon learning that Toby had returned back to work (he screamed No! No! No!)

2 comments:

jjccjc said...

At the workplace, clearily define responsibilities is the only way to ensure that standards are maintained for any job. When left to each individual to set their own standards, some people will face situations much above their standard while others will be presented with those well below. This is sure to result in some sort of resentment. In fact, some family situations could benefit from this approach as well.

Lisa Nash said...

I hate messy co-workers. I once had a co-worker who wore bare feet and didn't wash her hands after going to the bathroom. Gross