“If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.” | Ludwig Wittgenstein

I remember in my Freshman Year of High School, we asked our History teacher to pick the quotation that would go on our class page in the yearbook. That’s the one he picked. Yeah, that one. I think that was Louis’ way of showing affection, of showing that he actually thought my class was pretty smashing despite the grief we gave him about pretty much everything. Louis wasn’t one for showing affection so this quotation was a big deal. Then again, I like to think I and my 13 Freshman Comrades gave Louis the adventure of a lifetime….so it’s probably not strange that showing us affection did not come easily to that tall, glasses-clad, snarky father. Let’s just say that one time we stole and hid his water bottle (he drank like five of them a day) and he was not a happy camper. Then, on a field trip to MA, we embarrassed him to death jumping over fences into people’s lawns as we cavorted through the streets of that unsuspecting town on a nighttime adventure. We also made him crouch down next to the Make Way For Ducklings statues in the Boston Public Gardens and read us the eponymous book out-loud as passersby stared with raised eyebrows. A grown man reading a children’s book to teenagers. What a sight and we knew it. Yeah, we were terrors. Oddly enough, that also happened to be the trip where myself and two other friends sang for money quite by accident. Perhaps I’ll tell that story another time ’cause the Class of 2013…well, we were legends and we’ve got stories to tell 🙂

But, as I said, I like to think we gave Louis the adventure of a lifetime and I’m pretty positive he shed at least one small tear (in his heart) when he left the school a few years later (yes, we took a toll on him but it was worth it :P). So that’s the first time I ever heard/saw that Ludwig Wittgenstein quotation and I didn’t think any other group could live up to it…until now.

If ever a quotation summed up The Office, this is it.

Sometimes intelligent people need to let off some steam. And by “letting off some steam” I mean engaging in silly shenanigans. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Now I have no idea who this Jack fellow is but one thing’s for certain: when he didn’t get to play, he wasn’t the most enjoyable person to be around and there is a life-lesson right there. Life’s serious, lovely humans, I know, but it’s not that serious. We’ve gotta learn to take vacations every day, as I said in another post (not original to me…I saw that quotation on Pinterest, the Treausre-Chest of Good Quotations). We’ve gotta find the Joy in every day and if that means doing things that on-lookers find odd or silly-beyond-belief then so be it. They’re the ones that are missing out, poor things, they don’t know how grand this Life can really be. If we don’t take those daily vacations, if we don’t stop and smell the Glory (you thought I was gonna say roses, didn’t you….), the overwhelming Joy of being alive on the Most High’s green earth, we’re gonna become very dull Jacks indeed. And that glory and Joy comes in many un-looked-for forms as I’m learning from The Office.

This time, it was yo-yos.

This particular Monday began like any other Monday at The Office, with Toby walking around offering everyone food. Food is an Office staple. I’m sorry, I’m going to digress once again but bear with me, lovely humans, ’cause it’ll all make sense in the end. My rambly thoughts have a point, trust me 🙂 So yes, food is The Office’s fuel and energy and the free-er the food, the better. Thanks to the fact that we’re a tech office and the guys set up near-by rooms for different events, we have Food Raids rather frequently…several times a month. Our last Food Raid (my name for these gloriously unexpected gifts) resulted in Churros and THE best tacos I’ve ever had! I kid you not, I think I had about four of those bad boys (the Churros) and I had serious words with myself for not taking another magnificently-crafted taco.

A Food Raid typically begins with Liza walking heavily down the hallway in her high-heels, sticking her head in everyone’s door, and saying “there’s food in the Beck Rooms”. And then the flurry of activity begins. We scramble from our desks, filter out into the hallway, travel through the foyer, out of The Office, and into the Beck Rooms where we stand in line giddy with excitement. During the Churro & Taco Raid, Toby saved the fringes on my poncho from dying an unceremonious death in the sour cream while Steve tapped the new Student Tech behind me on the shoulder and asked “is this your first Food Raid?” He didn’t say Food Raid but I’m sure Food Raid sounds cooler than whatever it was he actually said 😛 The newbie nodded and I smiled to myself because it wasn’t my first one and I was a pro at this…where I get off being so arrogant, I’ll never know, but I look back on my past self and shudder sometimes even in the humour….though I suppose it’s all about how you look at it. Some may see the humour while others can’t get past the seeming-arrogance and for that, I apologize (if you fall into the latter category).

So yeah, that’s a Food Raid and it’s a wonderful thing. On my first one, it was weird Mediterranean food and Stanley complained to me in line, unbidden, about how judgy his ex-wife was about his cooking especially when it came to Mediterranean food. The things you learn in line on a Food Raid….

What a digression! But you hopefully now understand just how important food is in The Office. Our willingness to try new things is sky-high, so when Toby shuffled down the hallway with a plastic container of these pumpkin-spice-cream-filled cookies, everyone was game. Well, everyone except for me. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so picky but here we are. Rick’s mom had bought the cookies specifically for Toby but he couldn’t eat them all by his little lonesome (I mean he could’ve but he didn’t want to ’cause he’s supposed to be on a diet…..) so he pawned them off on us. Ellissa took one right off but it took me a few minutes to gather my courage. I broke off a piece as they both watched and then Toby lifted an eyebrow in question, “you like it?” I shook my head and laughed (probably awkwardly), saying it just wasn’t my thing and he was like “here, I’ll finish it” and finish it he did.

Prior to that, he’d ambushed me in the hallway (ambushed is too a strong a term but I’m dramatic and I like to make things interesting) and asked me a Bible question to which I thought I knew the answer but I wasn’t certain so I told him I’d get back to him. After the pumpkin-cookie adventure, I pecked around on my computer, found out that my hunch was correct, and took a little two-second field trip to his office to share the good news. He was watching a video about iPhones (oh these tech guys) and with a “get out!”, he was astonished that I’d found the answer (as in “get outta here” not “get out of my office” haha). I asked him his opinion about guardian angels and he sent me a half-a-page-long email, bless his soul, with Biblical proof to back up his view.

Then Rina brought in the yo-yos and chaos and mayhem ensued along with a good dose of non-productivity.

She ambled down the hallway in her black heels, holding a brown box filled with little baggies holding the clear-blue coloured toys. She said she’d just made them…I’m not sure what exactly she meant unless we have a secret 3-D Printer hiding out somewhere in The Office which I don’t doubt in the slightest. That must be the only answer because I’m not sure how Rina could have “made” all 50-however-many yo-yos single-handedly in her office. But anyway, out came the yo-yos and everyone became a child again.

Kristoff and Jessa tossed theirs up and down, up and down, up and down in the hallway while Toby showed Mandy how to use hers in his office. Waldo tried to walk and handle his at the same time and he was actually pretty successful. The click-click of the yo-yos filtered through the hallway along with squeals of delight and sheepish giggles as everyone found their inner child and struggled to remember a talent from long ago and it was truly grand. It was like The Office paused to breathe and everyone forgot about work and basked in the awkwardness of re-discovering a talent they once knew. We found our vacation that day and if an Outsider had come into The Office, they would have wondered but it wouldn’t have mattered. We were living, really living, and that’s all that mattered.

Later, Milo joined The Bros (Kristoff, Steve, and Toby) as a permanent member of their daily 11:50 am Basketball Adventure. Apparently he passed muster because word on the street was he made several three-pointers and thus gained admittance into the elite club.

Yo-yos clicked up and down for the rest of the day and productivity plummeted until one by one, everyone left for the evening. Kenobi poked his head in my office for his customary and cheerful ” ‘Night” which always makes my evening because it’s the little things, lovely humans. I went off to class, arrived early, and decided to try out my yo-yo. Turns out I’m not a pro which is actually rather humorous. My friend and fellow INFJ, Keira, had to show me how it’s done and I think I managed to improve….but barely. But I’m keeping that Space 154, clear, blue and white yo-yo because it’s a reminder to find a vacation every day and to never be afraid to let out your inner child when the moment calls for it 🙂

Did I mention that the yo-yos light up with a flashing red light when you bounce them? Yeah, they’re pretty smashing and Rina did an equally smashing job 🙂

Next time on The Office Shenanigans….a tale of brownies and snow ❤

Space 154 is the name of one of the University’s tech rooms. I mentioned this in my last post Ponytails & Timberlands but here it is again in case you missed it and are confused 🙂

| We’re in a War, my friends, and we all need Courage on the Front Lines ❤ |