Fans of The Office love to hate Michael Scott. Played pitch perfectly by Steve Carell, Scott is everything everyone hates about bosses: bumbling, boundary-crossing, crass, insensitive, and awkward. Though the character developed over the years and became almost likable, Scott will always embody everyone’s idea of the worst boss in the world. The kind of guy that makes you want build a fort inside your cubicle or turn over the open plan table, or whatever style of office you’re spending your 9 to 5 in.
Part of the reason The Office, and Michael Scott in particular, are so popular is that the whole world feels all too familiar. You’ve probably had a boss like him, and co-workers like Dwight Schrute. Without the beet farm part. Reddit user u/Multicalibrador asked the followers of AskReddit to share some stories to illustrate Scott’s universality, asking “What’s the most Michael Scott-ish thing your boss ever did?” They definitely delivered.
22. The Cartographer
I handed him an aerial image I had printed. He told me I needed to reprint it and rotate it 180. I walked to my cubicle, waited a minute, handed it back to him right side up. His reply, “Perfect.”
21. The Secret Santa
My old boss was amazing. He actually bought me and my coworker iPods because we did such a great job on a project. A couple weeks later, he had us watch an episode of The Office during work because it was close to Christmas and he thought we deserved a break – and he was a huge fan. It was the Christmas episode one where Michael gave an iPod for Secret Santa. We both looked at our boss, and he was like “hey, I gave both of you iPods!”
20. The Party Planner
It was this guy’s last day with the company, and the managers brought in a cake for everyone to share. A very nice farewell gesture.
Except he wasn’t moving to a new city or leaving the company for a new job. He had gotten fired. The managers literally fired this guy, then called everyone into the kitchen and said “Okay, today is Steve’s last day with the company, let’s have some cake!” Most oblivious, socially awkward, tone deaf moment imaginable.
19. The Great Equalizer
My boss makes me walk 2 meters behind him because I’m tall and he’s short.
18. The Dine And Dash
After a successful project, owner of the company invited everyone out to lunch (about 12 employees) at a nearby restaurant by the office. Little did she know, the place was very expensive, so she bounces early before the check comes, stating that she had a client call. She gives us money to pay for her meal and takes off, leaving the rest of us to figure out the check. It also turns out she didn’t give us enough money to pay for her potion of the check so someone had to throw in a few extra bucks to cover that.
17. The Housekeeper
My boss put candles in his dishwasher to clean them and they ended up melting and distributing a thin layer of wax over everything
16. The Morale Booster
Mandatory Staff Appreciation Day.
It fell on my day off, and I had to come in, to participate in the team-building activities that were scheduled. It went from 7am to 7pm, which was longer than a normal shift. That was my only day off that week.
15. The Timekeeper
I used to work graveyards. Once a month I was required to come in on Friday afternoon for a staff meeting at 1PM. This was essentially forcing me to come into work at 3AM for regular people, just so I “felt included in the warehouse”. Also, since I did not work Friday/Saturday nights, it was essentially having me show up on a normal persons Saturday at 3AM. She had the gall to yell at me for showing up in my pajamas, and not proper warehouse clothing….
14. The Thief
A few coworkers and I competed in a local Office-themed trivia contest. We came in second place, and one of the prizes was a “World’s Best Boss” mug. We brought it into work and displayed it proudly like a trophy in one of our offices. My boss–who was not involved in the contest, has never seen The Office, is not friends with or well-liked by any of us, and is a huge idiot–saw the mug in someone else’s office and just took it. None of us could figure out where it had gone until we saw her drinking out of it.