I have been on vacation from Dunder Mifflin for about a week and a half. I came in this morning with a euphoric sense of not caring what Michael might say or do.
He immediately came over and started telling me the details of how he handled various situations that I would normally take care of. As if I cared. Honestly, the first time I thought of Dunder Mifflin while on my vacation was 7 days after I walked out the door. It was a brief fleeting thought, like some vague memory of a place I once visited.
And the feeling this morning was nice. Yes, I didn’t care what Michael was saying, but I also didn’t care that he was saying it. Kinda like when the dentist gives you a great anesthetic and you don’t care that two gloved hands and a drill are in your mouth while drool is running down your face.
But as with every conversation with Michael he has to keep pushing and pushing and pushing until he gets a negative reaction out of you that forces him to retreat to his office to pout.
In the midst of his rundown he tells me of course Angela sent him an e-mail outlining all the things he did wrong that week. I was familiar with these e-mails, but had become pretty aware of her peeves and usually caught all of them before reports hit her desk.
“Yes,” I said from atop my vacation cloud. “There are many things I have to fix before those reports can get sent out.”
“Well what I didn’t know is that now there are different cover sheets that we have to use depending on what type of report it is.”
My cloud sank a little. “Yes I told you about that when they changed the policy.”
“Well I didn’t know how to do that,” Michael said in his victim voice.
ARGGGHHHH
“Yes, well, Michael, I believe your exact words when I told you about the change were ‘Well I think that’s corporate’s problem, not ours,’ which of course turned into my problem.”
Michael paused.
“Well anyway,” he said, “there was also a problem with…”
I didn’t quite hear the rest of what he said. I let my cloud float upward as much as it could. I know by the end of the day it will have sunk completely to the ground, covering me in fog instead of letting me bob in delight.
But for now I will enjoy my memories and focus on January … when my vacation days reset.