My coworker and I looked at each other and laughed, knowing we’d all have a much better time without them there. Again, the boss told us that they would be having dinner and we would have to make other plans. On a business trip a colleague and I ran into the boss in the hotel lobby with a client. When I told the others, they laughed at the unique ability of this person to look for opportunities to be rude. The boss let me know, in front of the client, that after the presentation I could leave because I was not invited to have lunch with them. For instance, once the boss and I had a meeting and presentation with an important client. But much like in The Office, we had a supervisor who had a knack for irritating the employees, in particular by constantly reminding everyone of his superior position.Īs occasionally happens on the sitcom, we had moments of bonding when our self-centered boss did something we found absurd.
I worked in one such office years ago, where most of the employees were well educated and had a significant amount of responsibility and autonomy. With limited opportunity for workers to make unique contributions in their jobs, they might feel more like cogs in a machine than valued employees.Īnd yet some of the shenanigans featured in The Office also happen in places where people truly like their work and feel that their skills are being well used. We can certainly apply this idea to more contemporary forms of work, like selling things in a retail job but earning the same wage whether you sell $1 or $1,000 dollars worth of merchandise. He originally described alienation as something that happened to people working in factories who saw little or no economic gain from the products they produced. This reflects Marx’s concept of alienation, or when workers feel little or no connection to their work. Just like on The Office, pettiness and gossip can dominate a day’s work when the job itself offers little mental stimulation (which is why I love being a professor now). If this all sounds immature and mean-spirited to you, I admit, it was. One of my friends panicked when he couldn’t remember the actual name of a coworker with whom he had an upcoming meeting and called me on my extension to ask if I remembered her real name.
#THE 13TH FILM SOCIOLOGY CODE#
We developed code names for our coworkers (and ourselves) ranging from cartoon characters and Disney icons to infamous criminals and unique combinations of obscenities. We all became close friends, talking on the phone after work, meeting up for dinner, going to lunch together and hanging out on weekends. One day, we thought it would be fun to all have lunch together and comment on our observations (okay, I really mean gossip). We all worked in different areas of the office and had experiences with different aspects of the organization. In one office I worked at, I had three or four coworkers who were just as bored as I was, and we bonded over the absurdity of our daily tasks. Like the work at the fictitious Dunder Mifflin paper company on The Office, the work I did was often mundane and unfulfilling, and the mini-dramas of coworkers was the only thing that helped pass the time. I worked in several offices before becoming a professor, and on several occasions my coworkers became my closest friends. That’s why companies spend untold amounts of money on office parties and retreats in order to promote a sense of cohesion.Ĭoworkers can move from being people that we have to deal with on a limited basis in order to earn a living, to what sociologists call primary groups, or people who experience ongoing relationships with one another that can be very influential. If people have a sense of commitment to each other, rather than just to a paycheck, they might be more productive. Managers can go to a lot of trouble to help workers feel like part of a group, and of course this isn’t just so everyone makes new friends.
On The Office, the Steve Carell character, Michael, often refers to his staff as a family. Sometimes our coworkers see us more than family members do, and might even know more about us than some of our closest friends. When you work with people on a regular basis, they can become a sort of second family.
Aside from its quirky characters, faux documentary style and offbeat plot lines, The Office is a window into some sociological aspects of work. Do you now, or have you ever worked in an office? If so, you might like watching The Officeas much as I do.