I know, I know. It is JUST a show. But when I first started watching The Office seven years ago, I was a mess. Right out of freshmen year of college it was like my whole world had been shaken up in so many ways. I won’t go into the details. Suffice it to say that I was going through one of those times when you don’t really know who you are or where you’re going or what really matters.
And something great happened that summer seven years ago. I met some really great friends – people that I love very dearly to this day – and we started to sit down once or twice and week and watch episodes of The Office. I’m not going to say that The Office brought me to Jesus or anything like that. But I will say that that summer seven years ago was one of the best summers of my life.
There was so much to love about the show – the awkward humor, the wonderful and eccentric characters that never seemed to get it together, a boss and A.R.M. that you just love to hate to love, and, of course, a too-good-to-be-true but still wished it could be love story. And for the next seven years, I tuned in to watch The Office virtually every single Thursday.
I tuned in because for me, it was now more than just a show. It was something that connected me to the memory of that summer seven years ago. It was something that continued to connect me to new people in new places for the next seven – finding other people and friends who appreciated the same kind of humor and wonderful storytelling that we found in The Office. It was a story that moved me as I watched characters shape and grow and change. Yes – it made me cry when the writers wanted me to cry. It also made me laugh over and over again – even watching old episodes that I’d seen a hundred times. It made me hope. It made me look for good in people the way the show found good in almost everyone. And because it is a story like any other great story, it made me want to be better in my own life.
Tonight that story comes to a close. And before it does, I want to give it a proper tribute and share some of the most important things The Office taught me:
It showed me that people are redeemable and worth redeeming. Every person on the show had their bad streaks. But they also had their really good streaks. Even when Roy lashed out at Jim and got fired, Pam still heard him out at the coffee shop around the corner. Even when Dwight blew it as manager, he still got a second chance just a couple weeks ago. And even when it looked like Jim would cause the most devastating split in TV history and let Pam go, they found each other once again and brought us back to the first time they fell in love. From start to finish, everyone has been filled with light and everyone has been filled with dark. Everyone has been worth saving.
It taught me to hope in good things. Even when things got really, really bad – so messed up you thought there was no way out of it – there was something inside of you saying, “It’s gonna work out.” Something will work out. Someone will change their mind. Something will change and all of a sudden things will be good again. And somehow, it always happened. Like in life, it wasn’t always the most optimal thing. It might have been something really unexpected. But it always brought things back together.
It gave me something to count on. Admittedly, these seven years have not been easy. I have changed. My friends have changed. My family has changed. I’ve lived in a number of places, met a lot of people, my friend circle has changed over and over again. Relationships, break-ups, job changes, careers plans, relocations. I’m a completely different person (thank God!) than I was seven years ago. And along the way, the story of The Office has kept up. It’s been that one thing that in seven years has stayed a part of my weekly routine.
I know that sounds trite and dramatic. And maybe that says more about the way my life has been constantly moving and unsettled for so long. And I’m sure if I thought of it, there are other things that have taught and move and changed me for seven years the way this show has.
But this one is ending tonight. And in some ways, that seven year journey is ending as well. So this is goodbye to The Office. It is just a show. But it gave me something much more: a story. A wonderful, meandering, heart-breaking, joy-filled, laugh out loud story of love and friendship. And for that, I’m grateful.
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