An Office is an Office, Not a Playground

The TV show The Office portrays irresponsible behavior in the workplace for the sake of humor, and thus falsely presents an office as a playground. With its carefree presentation of inane pranks and inappropriate personal interactions, The Office shows impressionable viewers a twisted and incorrect view of the working world. In the episode “The Chair Model,” boss Michael Scott abuses his power, and the characters unprofessionally discuss relationships and engage in childish behavior. These types of actions by the characters give a false impression of an office workplace, and college students entering into internships or full time office jobs may come to the conclusion that having an office job is all play with no work; however, the situation should be quite the opposite. Instead, these students must know that offices are meant solely for working together with other professionals to complete important tasks.

As the main character of the show, Michael is the center of attention and is unfortunately the most flawed, as he abuses his managerial powers nonstop. At the beginning of the episode, we find that Scott has deliberated over choosing a new chair for three weeks, an act of procrastination and indecisiveness that would not go overlooked in the real world. The boss in an office should be able to act quickly and be decisive, not ponder over minor details that hinder productivity. The reason for his current lack of productivity is that he is enamored with a model in the chair catalog. While staring at the catalog, Michael decides that, despite his recent breakup, he is ready to date again, and he forces his employees to set him up with a woman. He orders all of his workers to write down the name and number of an eligible woman on a notecard or they will be fired. This blatant misuse of power is akin to a dictatorship, as Michael leverages the powers vested in him to maintain a productive office into tools to advance his personal goals. This abuse of stature makes young viewers think that a boss can order their employees to do any task, work related or not; this is totally false, and in a normal office could be grounds for firing. As if this mistake was not enough, Michael also refuses to assist his employees when they ask him for help with the office’s parking situation. Construction workers are using the company’s parking spots, forcing Michael’s workers to park far away and walk to work, but because Michael has his own reserved spot and is caught up in his dating situation, he dismisses the problem. Now Michael is not only using his authority in inappropriate areas, but he is also refusing to apply his powers to take care of a problem in an office. Instead of being self-interested, a boss should strive to put the company and the office first, a concept Michael clearly struggles with. To top it off, Michael leaves the office for a date with one of the women suggested to him, and even spends the time before the date preparing. In the entire episode, Michael fails to complete a single productive task, and thus gives impressionable viewers the idea that a boss can do whatever they like just because they are granted authority over the rest of the workers. In reality, a boss only has jurisdiction regarding work-related issues, and The Office fails to stress this important piece of information.

In addition to showing an inept boss, The Office also displays its characters interacting in ways that should be reserved for personal time. The most glaring topic that needs to be kept out of the workplace is the subject of dating; unfortunately, “The Chair Model” focuses almost entirely on this dynamic. From the start, Michael talks to his employees about his desire to return to dating, distracting them from their jobs. In doing this, Michael takes the focus away from work and instead to personal issues. In a professional environment, workers should refrain from blatantly holding discussions about a topic as personal as dating. This kind of behavior only encourages distractions and discloses private information that may complicate a team-based setting. Just as students in school are not allowed to engage in personal discussion during class time, so are office workers restricted from similar topics. Furthermore, discussion of relationships, sexual activity, or other similar topics can easily be construed as sexual harassment. In the workplace, sexual harassment is taken much more seriously than most college students realize, and students used to flirting with coeds could quickly find themselves facing a lawsuit in a business environment. Also, during the episode, Michael talks to Kevin about Kevin’s divorce, Jim and Pam flirt across the office, and Dwight comforts Michael during his emotional crisis; all of these instances give the impression that workers in an office can discuss whatever they please. However, what students who are unfamiliar with office work do not know is that employees must stay focused on their jobs, and that slacking off can have serious consequences, including being fired for poor behavior.

Additionally, several characters in “The Chair Model” exhibit immature behavior contrary to their age instead of maturely carrying out their jobs. As Michael solicits dating help from the employees, he addresses Oscar as “Oscar-Meyer-Wiener-lover,” and asks if Oscar can set him up with all of his “liberal women friends” that he must have because he is gay. Michael’s joke and assumption draws upon gay stereotypes, and if they were used in an actual office Michael would be facing serious trouble for being so insensitive. Additionally, Jim writes down Pam’s mom as an eligible woman on Michael’s dating notecard, a joke that is decidedly juvenile. In a similar manner, Kevin puts down the name Wendy, and when Michael dials the number he reaches a “Wendy’s” fast food restaurant. This prank, though in retaliation to Michael’s absurd demand, has no place in a serious office. The office workers should act as a team, and pranks only serve to sow bitterness and tension. All of these examples cause viewers to see the office as a playground, where humorous behavior takes precedence over a job well done.

All of these topics obstruct the true nature of an office: to complete work for a company. Offices, unlike the one in The Office, contain professional individuals focused on completing goals. Each worker is there to provide for his or her self, and also for his or her family; to do so means working hard to keep a job and to earn raises. While an office is by no means some sort of totalitarian regime, it is also not a playground. Coworkers should be supportive of each other, rather than playing negative pranks that cause ill-will. Employees should strive to keep personal issues out of the office. Though casual conversations are inevitable, and also acceptable if kept in check, an office worker should never announce deeply intimate dilemmas to the entire staff. Also, bosses should make it their goal to make their workers more efficient instead of distracting them with inappropriate behavior. Simply put, an office is a professional workplace with rules and etiquette, not a place for recreation.

The themes of power abuse, inappropriate workplace discussion, and childish behavior presented in The Office certainly belong in a comedy show; however, little thought is given to those who may be unfamiliar with an office setting. College students who watch “The Chair Model” see not a tidy workplace, but an unruly playground, where the boss refuses to follow the rules and the workers discuss personal issues and goof off. When these students enter into the workplace for the first time, they might not treat the setting with the proper respect, which would certainly cause problems that may impact their futures. Due to The Office’s portrayal of irresponsible activities for the sake of humor, these viewers may later enter the workplace expecting a laidback environment where productivity is second to play; sadly, they will have been sorely misinformed.