# The Office 2/8/07 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2007, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459 "2007-02-09T04:50:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2007, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/61 "2007-02-09T22:44:23Z")
[QUOTE=PunditLisa] Actually in these days of giving gifts straight off the gift registry, it’s not inconceivable that two people would give the same gift. [/QUOTE] Obviously. That scene was a nod to something that happened before. In an earlier episode, Stanley complained in one of the “confessionals” that he bought a toaster for the Roy/Pam wedding and then when the wedding was canceled they wouldn’t let him return it so now he had two toasters. He was finally able to get rid of the extra toaster by giving it to Vance and Phyllis. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/62 "2007-02-09T22:47:22Z")
[QUOTE=robby] \*Although, this would never quite work out in the real world. The person who actually gave the gift would not get a thank-you note from Phyllis, and they would surely ask her if she received it. It wouldn’t take much for Phyllis to put two and two together when she realized that the gift in question had a card from Creed on it. [/QUOTE] I get the sense that Creed wouldn’t care. When that point arrived, he’d just shrug it off. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/63 "2007-02-09T22:48:42Z")
[QUOTE=PunditLisa] Re the fourth wall: They definitely aren’t consistent with this. The show where they paired up to do their sales calls was a perfect example. Are we to believe that there are four different camera crews driving around with everyone? [/QUOTE] Sure, why not. Amazing Race does it. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/64 "2007-02-09T22:53:20Z")
Give it up, people! Pam is **so** Small Town she doesn’t stand a chance against Big-City Sophisticate Karen! What does Pam have to offer? She may be cute but she’s sweet to the point of being insipid. She’s not very bright. She’s not much of a conversationalist. She has no backbone to speak of. She and Roy were made for each other and have turned back into the cute couple they probably were in high school. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/65 "2007-02-09T23:15:35Z")
Nobody noticed the color of Michael’s tie? It was the exact same bird-vomit-blue as the bridesmaids’ dresses. He was so in love with being a part of the wedding party. I love those little touches. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2007, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/66 "2007-02-09T23:24:51Z")
By all means, check out the wedding pictures at [nbc.com](http://nbc.com). Some real gems in there. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2007, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/67 "2007-02-09T23:31:10Z")
Regarding the camera crew, I caught a whiff of them trying to tip off Pam and/or Jim (I can’t remember which one they were talking with) in this episode. They have done something similar before, I recall. If I were a cameraman talking with both Pam and Jim, I would have stood up and yelled at both of them by now, “PAM, YOU LOVE JIM. JIM, YOU LOVE PAM. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, JUST GO OUT WITH EACH OTHER ALREADY!!!” But that wouldn’t make much of a story arc. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/68 "2007-02-10T00:05:39Z")
[QUOTE=whole bean] DThat’s totally different from thinking \*Wedding Crashers \* was _Grizzly Man_. Have you seen _Wedding Crashers_? [/QUOTE] Bears strike when you don’t expect them. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/69 "2007-02-10T00:30:45Z")
[QUOTE=Oslo Ostragoth] By all means, check out the wedding pictures at [nbc.com](http://nbc.com). Some real gems in there. [/QUOTE] Heh…love the closeup of the wedding invite: Phyllis Lapin Of Scranton, Pennsylvania and Robert Vance Of Vance Refrigeration ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/70 "2007-02-10T00:54:20Z")
[QUOTE=PoorYorick] Nobody noticed the color of Michael’s tie? It was the exact same bird-vomit-blue as the bridesmaids’ dresses. He was so in love with being a part of the wedding party. I love those little touches. [/QUOTE] I noticed his tie was the same color. I figured he had the same tie as the groomsmen. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/71 "2007-02-10T00:58:22Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] Give it up, people! Pam is **so** Small Town she doesn’t stand a chance against Big-City Sophisticate Karen! What does Pam have to offer? She may be cute but she’s sweet to the point of being insipid. She’s not very bright. She’s not much of a conversationalist. She has no backbone to speak of. She and Roy were made for each other and have turned back into the cute couple they probably were in high school. [/QUOTE] But she and Jim communicate well, and have the same sense of humor. That goes a long way. And Jim is more Small Town than Karen, certainly. And Pam does have dreams of something outside of Scranton. Although…Roy did describe her art as beautiful last week so perhaps he would support her going out of town for school… > [@PunditLisa](#): > > Didn’t she throw something in there about telling everyone she was pregnant? I thought it was something along the lines of having a one-night hookup?? ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/72 "2007-02-10T01:39:24Z")
[QUOTE=PoorYorick] Nobody noticed the color of Michael’s tie? It was the exact same bird-vomit-blue as the bridesmaids’ dresses. He was so in love with being a part of the wedding party. I love those little touches. [/QUOTE] I think that was the color of the tie for all the wedding party participants. ---
**Author:** ![Mayo\_Speaks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mayo\_Speaks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayo_Speaks)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/73 "2007-02-10T02:40:13Z")
**Somebody** : I thought you weren’t supposed to wear white to a wedding? **Kelly** : It was an emergency. [Talking Head] **Kelly** : I look _really_ great in white. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/74 "2007-02-10T03:37:30Z")
[QUOTE=woodstockbirdybird] . Even grade schoolers know when Ben Franklin was alive. That kind of lame _Three’s Company/Friends/million other lazily written sitcoms_ joke always disappoints me. [/QUOTE] I think Dwight may not live in the consensual reality most of us accept as true. He believes in magical futuristic faxes, strange governmental conspiracies, ejecting old men from weddings into the street, and other things that normal people do not believe. This is why Jim has so much fun with him. You just have to accept this, because it is the basis of the character. He’s a weird guy, for sure, and not quite a real person, but he’s funny as hell, so it’s OK with me. As for the Pam & Jim thing-- really, Jim is in an unfortunate position. He is committed to Karen mostly because of her continued, ill-advised commitment to him. She moved for him, after all. I had someone do that for me, and I stayed with him for several more YEARS after that even though I wanted it over, out of sheer guilt and sense of obligation. So there’s that holding him back. But now it’s kind of Karen’s own fault if she gets hurt. She has enough information to walk away but doesn’t. After all, Jim told Karen flat-out that he was still into Pam, and in typical delusional chick fashion, Karen convinced herself, through many hours of late-night conversation (most likely her talking, him listening with feigned interest) that it’s OK that her BF is in love with someone else, it’s in the past, nothing will come of it. She’s fooling herself. Jim was probably hoping against hope that Karen would take this cue and walk away, but she didn’t, and so he’s stuck. Jim, meanwhile, has been rejected by Pam solidly and often enough that he’s not going to be (in his perception) a dick to Karen, or give up what he definitely has, over someone who might or might not string him out again. Can you really blame him? I don’t. He doesn’t have all the information that we have about how Pam feels. They are both playing it way cool, so it’s not fair to expect either one of them to make a drastic move based on knowledge of the other’s sentiments at this point. It’s Pam’s turn to step up and make her feelings known. The ball is in her court. I don’t blame her for not saying anything at this point, now that Jim is clearly with Karen. But she had her chances and blew them all. Now she’s stuck with Roy again. Ah well. It’s Karen who’s going to get hurt in the end, though. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/75 "2007-02-10T03:53:34Z")
I agree with pretty much everyone - Michael isn’t being written well. Make him a jackass, fine, but unless we’re suddenly animated, don’t make him a cartoon. Actually, that’s why I hate the Andy character, now that I think about it. What was someone saying about Phyllis’s bald spot?? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/76 "2007-02-10T06:42:46Z")
[QUOTE=Oslo Ostragoth] By all means, check out the wedding pictures at [nbc.com](http://nbc.com). Some real gems in there. [/QUOTE] Have we ever seen Kevin’s fiancee Stacy before? There’s a pic of her and him at the wedding - she is waaaaayyyy out of Kevin’s league! Did you see the pic of the wedding cakes? The groom’s cake was a little refrigerator - with a GE (NBC company) logo on it! lol Re: Dwight & Ben Franklin: I think Jim just flusters Dwight and puts ideas into his head. All Dwight focuses on then is the matter at hand. He thinks “these faxes are from the future!” and doesn’t think past that (as in “uhm…how am I getting faxes from the future?”)…Jim says “that is the real Ben Franklin” and Dwight thinks “I will prove this is not the real Ben Franklin!” and doesn’t think “uhm…Ben Franklin is long dead.” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/77 "2007-02-10T06:49:17Z")
[QUOTE=Rubystreak] As for the Pam & Jim thing-- really, Jim is in an unfortunate position. He is committed to Karen mostly because of her continued, ill-advised commitment to him. She moved for him, after all. I had someone do that for me, and I stayed with him for several more YEARS after that even though I wanted it over, out of sheer guilt and sense of obligation. So there’s that holding him back. [/QUOTE] I’m one of those apparently rare people who realizes that if someone is “one in a million” that means there are thousands (one billion being a thousan millions) of people just like them in this world. Jim could make the Karen thing work forever if he chose. Karen shares his sense of humor, too. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/78 "2007-02-10T07:20:11Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] Re: Dwight & Ben Franklin: I think Jim just flusters Dwight and puts ideas into his head. All Dwight focuses on then is the matter at hand. He thinks “these faxes are from the future!” and doesn’t think past that (as in “uhm…how am I getting faxes from the future?”)…Jim says “that is the real Ben Franklin” and Dwight thinks “I will prove this is not the real Ben Franklin!” and doesn’t think “uhm…Ben Franklin is long dead.” [/QUOTE] I think the Ben Franklin thing is slightly more believable if Jim presented it to Dwight in the form of some kind of sci-fi, time travel or alternate universe scenario. Since Dwight is a sucker for that stuff, I could believe that Jim might be able to place that one percent of doubt in his mind. I’m sure Jim would have said more than just “this is the real Ben Franklin.” He would craft a story around it somehow. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/79 "2007-02-10T08:39:28Z")
I don’t thing Dwight would need that. He seems quite capable enough to construct such a scenario on his own. ---
**Author:** ![teemingONE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@teemingONE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teemingONE)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459/80 "2007-02-10T16:48:37Z")
Yeah, I don’t think Dwight would need all that either. Jim: " You know that’s the real Ben Franklin, right." Dwight: " Shut up, no it isn’t." Jim: " Oh yeah, it is. Go check it out. It IS the real Ben Franklin." Dwight: " You’re an idiot." 10 seconds later… Dwight: " WHO IS THE KING OF AUSTRIA?" [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-office-2-8-07/391459.md?page=5)