Farewell to The Office: 4 Harsh Realities for the Comedic Workplace

Well, it’s official: everyone’s favorite workplace comedy has come to an end.

While The Office is just a show, the reality is that the ending we’ve seen would have never come to fruition had this been an actual workplace. Plenty of lines have been crossed over the years on the show, and it’s worth taking a look at how things would have been different on The Office if it were more like your office.

Office romances.

Pam and Jim. Dwight and Angela. Andy and Angela. Kelly and Ryan. Erin and Pete. Michael and Holly. The list goes on and on — no really, it does. Had this been an actual workplace, these couples would have had to sign a relationship disclosure agreement, giving them plenty of time and red tape to decide if this relationship was really worth pursuing.

If they had been able to date at all.

Many workplaces have a strict no-dating policy amongst co-workers, which helps the company avoid getting caught up in any legal or liability issues if things turn sour. In this case, Michael Scott would still be acting manager of the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin. And everyone would have most likely lost interest in the show — because who doesn’t love a good romance?

Professional vs. personal.

Ok, we take that back. Michael Scott would have been fired a long time ago. Remember Diversity Day? Or when Michael fake fires Pam in the very first episode? And don’t forget the many, many, many instances of sexual harassment that Michael Scott instigated throughout his time on the show.

The long and short of it is that Michael Scott would have been a huge liability to the company and let go long before he was able to do any more damage. Who would have taken Michael’s role as Manager? Most likely someone outside of the office — and this is why.

Dwight shot a firearm in the office the one day he was acting Manager.

And that pretty much sums up that.

Work productivity and performance.

Let’s be honest here. The Scranton branch was one of the worst examples of workplace productivity and high performance output. You could probably count on two hands the amount of sales calls we actually saw over the years.

What we did see were the office Olympics, countless unproductive conference meetings and many, many in-office parties. It’s difficult to believe that any work was getting done; and with that, The Office, as we know we it, would have ceased to exist long ago.

List off some more harsh realities for the comedic workplace in the comments below!

IMAGE: Courtesy of Flickr by Randy Son Of Robert