Holiday Intervention

In this weeks episode, the Office staff had a christmas party. Meredith got very drunk and accidentaly set her hair on fire. Michael decided to stage an intervention, to try and cure Meredith of her alcoholism. He didn't get too much support from the rest of the office staff, so he decided to trick her into entering rehab by pretending that they were going to a bar.

Meanwhile at the office Phylis was demanding that Angela perform tasks to spruce up the holiday party. Angela refused, so Phylis told everyone that Angela was having sex with Dwight, even though she was engaged to be marrying Andy. All of the staff heard Phylis's announcement except Andy.

I really didn't find the subject matter of this weeks episode to be amusing in the slightest. There was nothing funny about Michael physically dragging Meredith into rehab, and the scenes at the office party lacked comedy. Jim's prank of wrapping up Dwight's desk seemed petty and repetitive, as he has altered that state of Dwights office supplies on multiple occasions.

Efficient Economizing???

Oscar’s accounting revealed that the office was running a sizable surplus. Once the term “surplus“ was explained to Michael “like he was a five year old,“ Michael was overjoyed with the news, and he asked the staff what they would like to spend the discretionary income on. It was soon evident however, that the money was not merely superfluous funds, rather the money could be put to good use to replace the worn out chairs, or buy a new copier. This goes to show that Michael was completely unaware of the problems with the fixtures and furnishings at the office. Furthermore, since they are running a paper company, they should be expected to have a functional copier.
Michael at one point decided that he would forego replacing the worn out items, and instead he decides to opt for the bonus given to managers for returning a surplus equivalent to 15% of the surplus. After discovering this, the office staff was upset, so he told them they had to agree among themselves whether they wanted the copier or the chairs. They voted for the new chairs, but it was still quite evident that a new copier was also needed. So, far from having a surplus, they actually needed extra money to cover the office expenses.
Meanwhile, at Dwight’s farm, he gave Andy and Angela a tour of the premises, in preparation for their upcoming wedding. In a practice ceremony, Dwight stood in for Andy and married Angela. Even though Angela still loves Dwight, she was outraged by his trickery, and therefore, she publicly demonstrated her love for Andy when they all returned to the office.

Funny moment of the week:
As Andy walked around Dwight’s farm with Angela, and he repeatedly stepped in animal excrement in the most unlikely places, such as the kitchen.

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!)

Second Thoughts About Your Subject of Study?

This week, Michael, attended a conference in Winnipeg Canada. Since he was unfamiliar with Canada, he thought he would need a french translater so he brought Andy along. Michael's behaviour indicates that Americans are very unfamilar with their neighbours to the north. This brings to mind the recendent federal elections. It appeared as though Canadians were very interested in the outcome in America, in some cases perhaps more than they were concerned with the Canadian election. In contrast, American voted in record turn-out for their own federal election, but if you were to ask them about Canadian politics, the average citizen probably wouldn't have a clue.

Another major event this week was Pam coming home from art school. She failed one of her courses, and she would have had to stay an extra term to get her certificate, but she decided that art school wasn't for her. She went there in the beginning because she liked art and wanted to see if she could further develop her skills. The end outcome of this endeavour was that she learned it just was not for her. As a university student, this brings to mind the process of choosing a major. Before entering university, it is difficult to know which program you are best suited for. Frankly, it is very difficut to choose based upon the vague discriptions that are given in the course calendars. It is only when you are knee deep in that you really begin to see what your program of study is all about. Many students I know start to completely detest their program once classes are in full swing.

Funny moment of the week:
When Ryan decided to reestablish his relationship with Kelly and she broke off her current relationship with Darrel, only to have him respond with a text message saying, "That's cool"

Private Dialogue In Public..What Are The Boundaries

In last night's episode, both Jim and Dwight recieved some less than stellar job performance reviews. Over the course of the show, it was revealed that Kelly had sabotaged them because they didn't not go to her party in the summer. In the end, Michael sympathized with Kelly's actions, because he too has had trouble getting people to come to his parties.

Throughout the duration of the episode, Jim was in constant contact with Pam, thanks to a handy piece of technology called the Blue Tooth, which enabled them to carry on conversations across vast distances. Although the Blue Tooth proved to be amusing at times, the fact remains that there was no real need for Jim and Pam to be in constant contact with one another. Especially since Jim was at work, it was very inappropriate for him to be carrying on a private conversation all day on company time.

This brings to mind the behaviour of cell phone users, as many people are now willing to engage in detailed private conversations in public. Nowadays it seems that everyone believes that they need to be in constant contact through their mobile devices, sometimes at the expense of being tuned in to what is actually going on around them. People prefer to live in the virtual rather than the physical world. Perhaps at the expense of new experiences and relationships.

Funny Moment of the Week:

When Jim and Dwight were doing a mock sales call under Michael's supervision, and Jim told Dwight over the pretend phone that his name was Bill Butlicker, and Dwight got in trouble for questioning the legitimacy of his name.

Homefield Pride...Where Does It Leave Us

Upon disclosing the intimate nature of their relationship to corporate, Mike and Holly were informed that one of them would have to relocate. Holly agreed to move back to her old branch, and she made plans with Michael that they would visit one another every weekend. However, on the truck ride up to her new place, they began to realize that the journey was longer than they first anticipated. Feeling that the distance was too great, they decided to end their relationship, despite the fact that they appeared to have a strong bond with one another. Alternatively, they could have potentially made their relationship work by having one of them relocate to another company, while staying in the same town, however their jobs proved to be more important to them. Besides, even if one of them decided to give up their job, there is no guarentee that their relationship would have worked in the long run.

Back at the office, Dwight and Andy were at eachother's throats as Dwight maintained that he had applied to Cornell University (where Andy attended) and Andy tried to prove to Dwight that there was no way that the prestigious Cornell would ever accept him. Afterwards, Andy then pertended that he was a farmer (because Dwight was raised on a farm). These episodes serve as more silly antics that the characters are continually using to amuse themselves at work.

As far as University pride is concerned, I am proud to be a York Student, however, I do not feel that my school affiliation is the primary means through which I would choose to identify myself to others.

Funny Moment:
When Michael and Holly are driving to her new place with Darryl and they sing along to "Life Is A Highway"

Group Mentality...Why Exactly Are We Gathered Here?

On this week's episode, after having a date at the office (after hours), Holly and Michael accidently left the office unlocked and the place was ransacked with several items stolen. Deciding that they needed to raise money, Michael declared that they would hold a charity auction (C.R.I.M.E. A.I.D.) to collect funds to replace stolen items. So the office staff gathered together and particpated in the auction. For many, this was done begrudgingly since they had no real interest in the items that were being auctioned. The only real high value item, Michael's concert tickets turned out to be fictitious. However, money was made at the auction through Phylis selling a hug to her husband. Otherwise, staff members were simply buying items they were not really looking to buy from one another. This begs the question, was there any real purpose to the auction.

This brings to mind an experience that recently happened in my life. This past week I participated in a "flash mob". Basically, a group of us got together to congregate in a line outside the University library, holding signs and chanting "24 seconds for 24 hours" as we tried to further the cause of 24 hour library service. Granted there were some people watching our demonstration and some positive feedback was recieved from the crowd however, it is questionable if our actions will actually have a positive impact, since most likely the majority of the crowd was there begrudgingly. Did we move forward to achieving our library access goal, or were we simply whistling into the wind.

Funny moment of the week:
While descibing the auction to the staff, Michael said "We will auction off people like the olden days" while looking at the black employee Stanley. Once again, Michael has demonstrated how shamefully politically incorrect his behaviour is.