subject: Michael Scott, The Quintessential Hardworking Slacker [print this page] For anyone who has ever reckoned it a liability to be a slacker or has been made to feel self-conscious of their natural desire to disdain the tedium of trying to look busy, the television show, The Office, offers a redeeming image to the unfortunate enmity that slackers have had to endure over time. Essentially, the show is a virtual paean to the art of slacking. The boss, Michael, is the representative dunce of the office, preferring to occupy his time contriving jests rather than doing anything remotely close to constructive work; a satirical twist on the usual charge of slacking attributed to the employees by the boss.
As one of his more critical employees, Stanley, says, he is either a genius or preeminently clueless. In either case, their branch enjoys great success in the otherwise waning fortune of the paper industry. By liberating the office employees from putting on a pretense of hard work, he encourages them, through example, to adopt the self same mockery to the job that he has adopted. Even in his attempts at sincerity, his impulsive candor and lack of cordial restraint more often than not only results in annoying people, but in such a way as to give license to his employees to conduct them in the same manner. Everyone in the show is refreshingly, even if at times annoyingly, real to themselves and to others.
In dealing with difficult people, Michael has a whole litany of seemingly unconscious reactions to choose from. In all of his interactions he shows a total disregard, whether out of ignorance or out of insensitivity, to the conventions of civil behavior. He also shows no distinction between stereotypes and facts, using the former to establish most of his arguments. But, to call him a bad boss would be unfair insofar as his slacking is what motivates his employees.
The good luck of having a boss who could give-a-damn removes that too often used complaint of having someone looking over your shoulder. Respect, honor and recognition play minor roles in the true pursuit of job satisfaction. Everyone in their heart of hearts wish to attain to that pinnacle of success whereby they can slack with impunity and enjoy work by not working.
