By Amy Glover

Copyright huffingtonpost

I reckon David Brent vs Michael Scott’s arcs form one of the most important differences between the UK and US versions of The Office – the Stateside boss ends up a little more forgivable than his Slough counterpart.

“Michael had redeeming qualities; David doesn’t. Michael also has an ability to make himself look incredibly stupid and then laugh at himself,” a Redditor agreed.

Perhaps that’s why a site user posting to r/AskUK used the American character over the more local David when they asked, “What’s the most ‘Michael Scott’ thing your boss has ever done?”.

The original poster (OP) shared that their sister’s boss announced “big news” at the start of the work day, leading to speculation about raises, promotions, and mergers.

“Late afternoon, he asks for the team’s attention and proudly unveils… a Nescafé Dolce coffee pod machine he’d ordered off Amazon,” OP said.

Here are some responses to the post:

1) “I had a boss who had clearly read somewhere that he should remember a single personal fact about each person in an effort to connect to them. The thing he’d apparently decided to remember about me is that I like sausages.”

“Every single Monday, I’d have the following exchange when I went into the office:

“Him: ‘Morning. Did you have any sausages this weekend?’

“Me: ‘Yes…’

“Him: ‘Ahaahaa excellent.’”

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2) “I worked at a company where we’d have a ‘balcony brief.’ The whole company would gather and listen to people talk on the balcony.”

“Anyway, a director was due to give a talk, and he entered with Robbie Williams’ Let Me Entertain You playing. He proceeded to sing the entire song. He then went about the usual business, ie running through turnover for the previous quarter.

“No idea why he did it.”

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3) “I was at the urinal and he came in, took the one right next to me instead of the other available five, and then looked me in the eye and said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s just me, not some WEIRDO!’”

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4) “Someone left a sheet of paper on a table which showed that I was being paid significantly less than my London colleagues. I was furious and had been asking for a rise commensurate with my position and responsibilities, and to bring me in line with the junior people I was managing.”

“In the middle of [a very stressful work period], my boss came up to my desk with a huge smile. ‘Finally, I’ve got some good news for you!’

“My heart jumped: more contractors? That pay adjustment I deserved? A bit of help with the deliverables? A sober project manager?

“My boss said, ‘Come to my office and I’ll let you know.’ I followed him to his office, and he shut the door and turned, unable to contain his joy.

“He said, ‘I’ve been asked to present our project at the AGM!’

“You are a nice bloke, Stephen, but f- that for a game of soldiers, and while we’re on the subject, f- you.”

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5) “Not my story, but a friend of mine once walked past the photocopy room and saw her boss trying to photocopy the screen on an iPad.”

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6) “He went around the offices dressed as Santa and handing out sweets, doing the Santa voice as well. He brought along all the other managers in a little entourage behind him, all in their normal clothes and looking awkward.”

“At that point, people in some offices saw him so infrequently that they didn’t realise who he was.”

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“I actually had a boss who did a dance for us at the office secret Santa, to his own recorded beat boxing. Zero self-awareness.”

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7) “In an attempt to ‘make a splash,’ I guess – on Valentine’s Day, my boss decided he’d hire a saxophone player to stand on our office balcony and serenade the town while he shouted happy Valentine’s Day and threw Love Hearts to people.”

“We worked in a specialised service which is useless to the average person, and our office had no branding on the outside.”

Credit: u/Man-I-Love-Fajitas