Company Man

I woke up this morning and, for some reason, I had Schrute on my mind. I think it was because, for the first time in a while, I decided to forgo my usual work attire of a t-shirt and shorts and wear a button down. Apparently, I can't wear whatever I want to work. (This is news to me; I'm a work newbie.)

So, anyway, yesterday, I was needed at a client meeting to read one of my glorious creations. I tried to get out of it on account of my outfit, but to no avail. It was awesome, though. I got to see all these fat cats squirm in their suits and dishdashas and I walked in there looking like I was going to the beach.

But that's another story. So, anyway, a few coworkers told me to basically, in Barney parlance, to suit up. I decided to go with a buttton down and jeans- not exactly dressy, but not exactly beach life. Let me tell you this, folks, sleeves suck.

I don't know whether it was because I've been going to the gym and my arms are bigger, or that the shirt shrunk, but the fucking sleeves are cutting off the blood circulation, damn it. This reminded me of an Office episode when Charles Minor, aka Stringer Fucking Bell, asks Dwight to wear a long sleeved shirt as opposed to his usual short sleeved one. Dwight had the same complaint.

But this got me thinking about Minor's lack of talent evaluation. Minor thought that Dwight, not Jim, was the better Dunder Mifflin employee, and in some ways, he was right.

Here's the difference between the two. Dwight's life, or lack thereof, is paper. (One could argue that his life is in fact Michael, which explains why Michael detests Dwight. It's because, irony of ironies, Michael is a scary judge of talent, and he sees that Dwight's vision is limited to Dunder Mifflin and pleasing his bosses and Michael, basically doing whatever it takes to please Michael, something- irony of ironies- Michael detests. Michael's idea of an ideal employee is someone who has the company's best interest at heart, but isn't a drone to the company. Someone who realizes that being stuck at a paper company isn't anyone's idea of a dream job. Someone like Jim.

Jim is at the opposite end of the spectrum. He has the company's interests at heart, but he's not driven by his work or pursuing a bottom line. Jim takes his job as a 9-5, leaving work troubles at work, knowing that he has bigger things to worry about (Pam and a baby on the way). In a way, that makes Jim a better employee, since he is driven by a basic human need to feed himself and his family, whereas Dwight's needs are to basically please Michael.

As I reflect on the kind of employee I want to be, I think I would rather be a Jim clone, someone who loves his job, but isn't held prisoner by it. I want a life as well, man. The irony is, I work in advertising, where my work is my life.

You know what? I wouldn't have it any other way. I love my job.

Most of the time.