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.”

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.

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.

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.

Welcome To My Blog

Hello Everybody!!! My name is Julia

As many of you might know, a new season of the series "The Offiice" is starting up on Thursday September 25th at 9pm. This program is very entertaining, clever and sometimes laugh out loud hilarious. So if you haven't seen it yet I strongly recommend you check it out!

Within this blog I intend to put forth my opinions of the show and I will also relate the content of the show to my experiences as a student at York University and my job.

I am hoping that other people will share their life experiences as related to the program, "The Office". Perhaps you have experienced a situation that is similar to one on the show, or maybe one of characters reminds you of someone you know. Or alternatively, perhaps you can relate to a situation depicted in one of the blog posts on this site.

To learn more about "The Office," please visit: http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/
or http://www.globaltv.com/globaltv/globalshows/theoffice/index.html