Office Space

  Just watched Office Space, a very entertaining movie that just everyone who's ever had a dead-end job can relate to.

Ron Livingston plays Peter Gibbons, a midlevel computer drone at Initech, a vast wasteland of cubicles inhabited by workers who hate their jobs and an oh-so-smarmy boss, Bill Lumbergh (Gary Cole).   When efficiency experts arrive to improve things and layoffs start, Peter and a couple of co-workers decide they should have a say in things.

There are many layers to this movie, and almost all of them have to do with the mind-numbing grind of daily office life.  Insane employees, inept bosses, meaningless rules, frustrating equipment.  The frogs in this small pond all take themselves very seriously--until one day Peter stops caring.

Peter bonds with Joanna (Jennifer Aniston) who does for food-service jobs what the other characters do for techie positions.  I had many waitress and bartender jobs in my formative years, so this is the part of the movie I can relate to.  Fortunately, I never had a cubicle job.

Joanna works for Chachi's a happy-themed restaurant-bar franchise the like of which many of us have eaten in.  The wait staff is supposed to wear at least fifteen pieces of "flair"--humorous buttons and other "fun" stuff pinned to their uniforms.  So she wears her fifteen, and is berated for "only meeting the minimum standard".

I once waited tables at a German restaurant called the "Frank 'n' Stein".  The waitresses all wore skirts with suspenders, and the owner/host wear his lederhosen when he went around greeting and shaking hands.  Beer, bratwurst, knackwurst, sauerkraut. 

Tended bar in hot pants at a later job.  Ah, the good old days.  I miss them not.

To this day, I occasionally dream of waiting tables, and not being able to get the order to the table--too many interruptions, the food's not ready, the tension climbs.  It remains one of the most disturbing recurrent dreams I have. 

So, while we didn't have to wear "flair", I think every food and beverage job includes plastering a smile on your face and being perky.  Joanna's over-the-top co-worker may be a caricature, but I'm not sure.  I'm pretty certain I have been waited on by him--not infrequently, in fact.

So while I could personally relate to Joanna's woes, I could laugh at the claustrophobic miseries of working in a cubicle.  I do, after all, read Dilbert.

Comments

[lc]

Dilbert can give you a clue about being a cube dweller, but until you've had the experience of realizing that everything you say is overheard for about 50 hours per week, it's not the same. What a weird existence; cause me to quit. ... But I quit the waitperson gig a LOT quicker. Hardest job I EVER had! How to remember all the orders and special requests??!!?? However, for all that suffering, I am now a very good tipper -- and can't stand those who aren't. What do you do when your host leaves a bad tip? Sneak some extra under your plate? Say something? Slink out of the restaurant? Has Miss Manners tackled that one?

[Joan]

It was a great movie - sadly too close to home for a lot of folks but hilarious.

[keewee]

Ah yes, I also have memories of the waitress days.

[riannan]

lc: I too tip a minimum of 20% almost always. There is rarely a wait person screwup I can't relate to. If I'm with someone who tips badly, I'll sometimes comment--"was there a problem" otherwise, all the others work--slip something under your plate, slink out, remove that person from auto-dial.

[lc]

Good answers all, R; thanks! "Was there a problem?" is one I shall keep up my sleeve for the next time that particular cheapskate I had in mind decides to "treat" me. xx -L ps but here it get hairy: does one tip 20% if one's bottle of wine costs as much as two good meals? -- just asking...

[Shawn Lea]

I was a waitress at Burkett's Radiation Shop and Cafe in Hattiesburg, Miss., during college. (No, I am not making the name up.) They only served lunch. It was a family-owned business. The waitresses had all worked there for 25 years and knew what the men (yes, they were all men) wanted to eat. THEY NEVER ORDERED. This drove me a bit nuts until I got the hang of it. About the time I was getting better, one of the waitresses had a daughter who lost a job and needed one quickly...that was the end of line for me. ;) My one and only (but very memorable) four-month experience waiting tables.

[Blake Mitchell]

When was this movie released? I love watching movies related to work. It makes me feel that there are people out there who understand how I feel. Watching movies like that help me learn a lot about dealing with other people. =)