Entrepreneurial Excitement

Michael greeted Pam at his front door dressed only in his bathrobe, clearly not ready to greet the challenge of starting up his new business, “Michael Scott Paper Company”. Pam proposed that they compile a list to make the daunting task more manageable. Michael decided that they should begin by assembling a strong sales team. Still a Ryan fan, Michael went to the bowling alley where Ryan was currently employed and they recruited him without much difficulty. While leaving the bowling alley, Ryan stole several pairs of bowling shoes. Pam apologized to the owner as they left the establishment in a hurry. The next item on their to-do list was to secure investors for the new business. They visited a retirement home and Michael made an appeal to his grandmother’s investment club. After a brief moment of consideration, his grandmother turned him down with a definitive no. However, Michael did make some progress as he secured a location for the company. The space he found for “Michael Scott Paper Company” is actually in the same building as their previous place of employment.

At the Dunder Mifflin’s office, Charles Miner was under the impression that Andy was a soccer fan because he noticed soccer pictures on his computer. Although he wasn’t really knowledgeable about the sport, Andy tried to make himself sound more informed on the subject to appeal to his boss. Jim got himself into an even stickier situation, as he led Charles to believe than he played soccer and a match was arranged for the end of the day. Jim’s strategy to appear skillful was to touch the ball as little as possible and praise teamwork. His strategy did not pan out. When Charles kicked the ball in his general direction, Jim ducked and the ball hit Phyllis in the face. Dwight turned to him and knowingly questioned, “Yeah Jim, why would an experienced soccer player such as yourself duck at the very last moment?”

I predict that Michael’s new company will be a great success. Granted, when he was the boss of the Scranton branch he sometimes came across as foolish and incompetent, however, in his own way Michael is able to produce positive results. Although sometimes misguided in his efforts, it seems as though he really has good intentions. After all, when he worked for Dunder Mifflin, he had one of the top selling branches so he was called into corporate headquarters to divulge his winning formula. It will be interesting and entertaining to see how he gets the Michael Scott Paper Company up and running.


Funny moments of the week

Jim spoke to the camera and reflected on his past work performance, “I’ve never been a kiss-up, that was never how I operated. I’ve always subscribed to the idea that if you really want to impress your boss you do mediocre work half-heartedly.”

While appealing to his nana’s investment club, Michael said “My mission is stated as follows, I will not be beat, I will never give up I am on a mission that is the Michael Scott guarantee.”

Quitting Quandary

After giving in his two week notice, Michael astounded the office coworkers as he became even more goofy and annoying than usual, topping his typical degree of disruptive inappropriate behaviour. As Charles, the manager, interviewed external candidates to replace Michael as regional manager, Michael talked to a potential applicant and learned that there were very few job opportunities at the moment. Michael decided that rather than looking for a new job, he would start up his own "Michael Scott Paper Company." He then proceeded to approach the office staff members and he tried to convince them to join his company to little avail. Charles learned about Michael's activities and he had him escorted off the premises. Michaels crawled back in to make one more plea, and this time he was successful at getting Pam the receptionist to join his new company, with the stipulation that she would now be a salesperson. They walked off together in silence, likely pondering their drastic career moves, and lack of concrete plans for the future.

As an employee, there have been times where I have wanted to escape my job and move on to something better, however, I have learned to appreciate the fact that jobs are not always available, and at times it is best to just stick it out. Granted, Michael was upset about Charles' intrusion into the Scranton branch, however, it was quite foolish of him to quit with no real prospects for the future. I predict that he will be back at the Scranton branch before long.

Funny moments of the week:
When Michael tried to recruit Jim as a salesman for his new paper company Jim told him, "I am not going to do this and you are not going to either. Here's the thing, what I wish for you is that you land a job at a company that A) exists and B) has a salary because they are set up to do that kind of thing"
It was also funny to see Michael literally crawl back into the office after being walked out by security.

Michael's Manager Misfortune

Michael prepared a special "C" shaped bagel breakfast to welcome Charles, the new manager, to the Scranton branch, with high hopes for their impending relationship. However, the manager had no interest in Michael's petty jokes and pitiful comedy routines, and he expressed displeasure with the way that he was running the branch. Charles was focused on maximizing productivity and dispensing with the silly nonsense that was so prominent. Michael was further upset when Charles disbanded the party planning committee that was supposed to be planning Michael's 15th Anniversary party. He was so distraught with Charles' changes to the branch that he went to David Wallace at corporate headquarters to complain. David promised Michael that he could still have his party, but Michael was so troubled that he quit right then and there.

It was not just Michael that got off to a rough start with Charles. When Charles arrived, Jim was wearing a tuxedo, because he was trying to make a statement about observing the dress code, since he had been singled out by Dwight as a dress code offender. Charles was not amused in the slightest, and he felt that Jim was a slacker who was making a mockery of the office.

The incidents that transpired on "The Office" bring to mind the fact that the atmosphere of the office is very dependent upon the leadership style of the individuals in charge. Michael probably falls at the far end of the lackadaisical spectrum, so it will be interesting to see how the office fares if Charles becomes a more dominant presence at the office. Perhaps the reason that the Scranton branch was so succesful was because of Michael's relaxed leadership style, so it would be interesting to see the effect of new management on the staff.

Funny moment of the week:
When Jim approached Charles to tell him that he was the number two in the office and he held the position of assistant to the regional manager. Charles asked if there were any responsibilities that went with the title and Jim said no. It was comical when Charles said in a incredulous manner "you want to keep this made up position"

Ticket Trouble Turnaround

Michael got a brainwave for a promotion inspired by "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." His hid five golden tickets in the paper shipments, and the customers who recieved the golden tickets were given a 10% discount off their paper order. However, it turned out that Michael did not distribute the golden tickets well and all of the prizes ended up with their largest customer, thereby giving them a 50% discount. Naturally, Michael's bosses were not pleased, so Michael blamed the whole promotion fiasco on Dwight. However, it turned out that the customer was so happy with the amazing discount that they decided to make Dunder Mifflin their exclusive provider of their office suppies. The bosses were thrilled with this news and congratulated Dwight. Michael then tried to get Dwight to admit to the true originator of the idea and it finally came out that Michael was responsible.

During the episode, Jim, Pam and Andy were all giving Keven advise about how to woo a woman that he was interested in. I though that Andy's advise was so weird when he told Kevin to ignore the women and insult her. I don't think that Kevin would get too far listening to that kind of advise.

Funny Moment of the Week:
Michael disclosing that he has plans to create a men's shoe store called "Shoe La La" that specializes in shoes for "special occasions in a man's life, like the day that you get married, or the day your wife has a baby or for just lounging around the house"

Valentines Vacancy

Recognizing that a preponderance of office staff lacked a Valentine on Valentines Day, Michael decided to throw a Lonely Hearts party where singles could mingle. Moreover, he was hoping that a certain lady he met at the mobile blood bank would show up. She did not appear. The office staff wasn’t wholeheartedly in the spirit of the party, as Dwight tried to turn his potential suitor into a client to no avail.

Meanwhile, Jim and Pam had a couple’s meal with Phylis and her husband, only to have Phylis and Bob leave them during the meal so they could express their love to one another in the handicapped washroom. Jim and Pam were shocked to learn this, and they didn’t quite know what to say upon the resumption of their meal.

Whenever I go out to meals, it is usually encouraged that friends can take fries off each other’s plates. It was surprising and funny to see Pam bite into Bob’s steak when he left the table.

Funny moment of the week:
The office coworkers went back to the blood bank for the sole purpose of getting free cookies. They pretended to still be woozy from giving blood, however they had cotton balls over their supposed blood wounds, when the blood bank has been using band-aids. Furthermore, as they tried to abscond with the cookies, Creed walked out with bags of blood.

Holly Hope

This week, Micheal continued his lecture circuit of the Dunder Mifflin branches, bringing Pam along as his assistant. She encouraged him that they should go to Holly's branch to do a presentation so that he could either get closure or rekindle the relationship. Upon arriving, Micheal learned that Holly was away from the branch on business, and that she has a new boyfriend, A.J. Micheal proceeded to inappropriately grill A.J. during his presentation. Afterwards, Michael went to her desk and noticed a file on her computer that was addressed to him. He burned the file to his USB key, and he cut a piece of her sweater sleeve for a personal momento.

Back at the office, Jim and Dwight were having great difficulty throwing Kelly a birthday party. They did a lousy job decorating and spelt her name wrong on the cake, much to her dismay. In the end, they let Kelly pick a theme for her party. She chose the theme of nap time and proceeded to sleep under the conference room table until Dwight woke her by banging metal lids together.

I found the whole birthday party story line to be quite amusing. At my previous workplace, it seemed like we were always having a party. They were enjoyable, however, they often detracted from productive work. This was highlighted in The Office, as Kelly was sleeping on company time. Although birthday celebrations are fun, perhaps they should be celebrated outside of working hours.

Funny moment of the week:
When Michael cut off the piece of Holly's sweater for a keepsake.

Emergency Exercise

Angered that the office staff was not paying attention to his presentation, Dwight decided to test them with a practical emergency scenario. He lit a garbage can on fire, heated the door handles, and put firecrackers on the floor causing the room to cloud with smoke. The office dissolved into chaos. Everyone was fighting to get to the door in a state of panic. The pressure of the situation proved to be too much for Stanley and he had a heart attack. Naturally, Dwight got in trouble for his irresponsible actions, and was asked to present the staff with a statement of regret.

In his misguided effort to be a caring boss, Michael responded to Stanley’s heart attack by engaging the office staff in meditation exercises. Unfortunately, instead of relaxing the staff, Michael proceeded to further stress them out. Each time he approached Stanley, his stress monitor would sound a large series of beeps, which would disappear when Michael receded. Michael was distraught to learn that he produced negative feelings amongst his staff, so he told them he would hold a roast and give them all an opportunity to hurl insults at him. By the end of the roast, Michael was devastated. He took the next morning off for some personal reflection. Eventually, he came back into the office and made peace with the staff by hurling insults back at them until he felt they were even.

Aside from Michael’s unnerving presence, I do not think I would have been able to benefit from the meditation. I have tried meditation before in a peer setting and it did not work for me. The whole time I just couldn’t wait for it to be over, and I found the relaxation pose to be quite uncomfortable.

Funny moment of the week:
Trying to save her cat from the fire, Angela threw it up into the loft, only to have it fall through the ceiling seconds later. As well, Oscar tried to escape into the ceiling to no avail and his legs poked through the roof to the horror of the office staff. Their shocked expressions were hilarious.
This episode was quite comical and entertaining. It was a noticeable improvement from the shows that have been broadcasted over the past few months.