18 Times "The Office" Actually Taught Me A Lot About What Corporate Life Is Like

    All the warnings were there.

    Jess Goodwin
    by Jess Goodwin

    BuzzFeed Contributor

    Even though a lot of what happened on The Office was anywhere from silly to ridiculous, a lot of it was pretty true to what goes on in corporate America.

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    In the 13 years I've been working in office settings, it's wild how often I think, "This is just like that episode of The Office."

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    Here are some of those episodes that prepared me for what it'd be like to work in actual offices:

    1. "Health Care"

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    This one taught me not to expect management to care about my health.

    2. "Sexual Harassment"

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    This one taught me not to be surprised when I had to start taking quizzes about sexual harassment at work.

    3. "Office Olympics"

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    This one taught me that nothing gets done while the boss is away.

    4. "Email Surveillance"

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    This one taught me that email surveillance is a thing. (I'm glad I saw this episode before entering the corporate world, because I knew from the get-go to only bitch about my bosses in-person or over text.)

    5. "Initiation"

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    This one taught me that I might get little treats here and there that are supposed to distract employees from the things they're not getting.

    6. "A Benihana Christmas"

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    This is the episode that really drove home the concept of office politics for me. Watching Angela fight with Karen and Pam over the Christmas party made me realize just how petty coworkers can be with each other.

    7. "Cocktails"

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    This one taught me to have multiple excuses ready to go when one of my bosses eventually threw a party and invited my coworkers and me.

    8. "Fun Run"

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    This one taught me that I might be pressured into exercising at work (I ultimately was).

    9. "Survivor Man"

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    This one taught me how much time is wasted on birthday parties. (Numerous birthday parties were only a thing in one of the offices I worked in because there were so few employees that management felt the need to celebrate all their birthdays, but still enough that it felt like we were partying twice a month.)

    10. "Employee Transfer"

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    This one taught me to always check to see whether or not people dress up for Halloween.

    11. "Nepotism"

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    This one taught me that nepotism isn't confined to small-town ice cream shops.

    12. "Costume Contest"

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    This one cemented the fact that the office is apparently the only place to meet romantic partners.

    13. "Threat Level Midnight"

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    This one taught me that you might need to help out with your boss's ill-conceived vanity project.

    14. "Todd Packer"

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    This one taught me you can disguise a Mac as Windows.

    15. "The Inner Circle"

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    This one taught me it's better the devil you know.

    16. "Angry Andy"

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    This one taught me that you can apparently punch a hole in the wall on two separate occasions and you'll just keep getting rehired.

    17. "Work Bus"

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    Management of any kind — including building — will do anything to make sure people keep working.

    18. "Lice"

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    This one taught me that someone might bring lice into the office??

    What did The Office teach you about corporate America? Sound off in the comments!