A Comedy of Terrors

Boss starts show: pictures from his two-week trip. Surprised employees look to him as he begins to talk about his flight, what he ate on his flight, his hotel, the bathrobe in his room. The beach. What he and his wife ate for dinner. . . .

Two hours later, boss still drones on.

Workers have heads in hands.

Pictures of boss and wife in bathing suits light up office wall.

Employees look at one another.

Clock ticks on.

* * *

Yes, in many ways, our lives at work are stranger than fiction. This lovely tidbit was brought to us by a now-ex-employee who worked in the Web development/programming group of a government contracting firm. Every time this boss returned from a vacation, slide shows "replaced our weekly staff meetings, and were mandatory," she said. She left that office about a year ago and spoke on condition of anonymity because she is still a government contractor. You never know: Even when a boss is a bad one, you might need him when another contract comes up.

"You start to think the whole world is a little crazy, and you're the weird one," she said recently, as she returned home from work. "Now that I'm in a better situation, I realize how crazy that was."

Clay Parcells is a regional manager with Right Management Consultants, a company that helps workers transition into new careers after they have been fired, downsized or let go. The company also counsels corporations on leadership development and talent management, among other things.

Parcells, like others in his industry, has a hard time watching "The Office." "I would hope . . . 'The Office' is not an example of what's going on in corporate America," he said. "Even though it's funny, I cringe when I see the show. I told my wife, 'I can't believe this program's going to make it.' "

Well, it has. The show has been picked up for a full third season of 22 episodes, which will begin in January. The show has that misery-loves-company feel. Who doesn't want to laugh about something that is similar, but maybe just a little bit worse?