What Has My Brother Done to Me?

What my brother has done to me can never be forgotten. Looking back, I should have been more cautious and prepared for what was about to happen, but how was I to know at the time? I can't help but think about it everyday now. It's like it has become a part of me, showing its face in the most unexpected but at the same time expected places.

The Office. It's been on my mind for the past few months now, all thanks to my brother. You see, over winter, my brother, David, had been practically snowed-in to his dorm room up in Aurora due to the cold-front. During that time, he decided roaming around Netflix would be a good way to spend his day. Wrong. He stumbled upon the show The Office. Ever since then, he has been constantly watching that show day and night, ranting and raving about it and how addicting it was. When he came home for winter break, he wouldn't stop talking about it in all its glory.

I, on the other hand, have never officially seen the show up until that point. I remember hearing my friend once talk about the show one day at tennis practice as well as having seen two of the beginnings marks of the show before the theme song ensued, but that was as far as I've gotten. I didn't really understand how he could have been hooked on the show because to me it seemed like one of those awkward-type of tv shows. No certain appeal to it.

I was wrong. I could not have been more wrong about a tv show in my life. God I was a fool for ever thinking those foolish thoughts before.

A few months after David had gone back up to school, I decided I would watch an episode of The Office to see what he was still obsessing over. The first episode was weird. Michael made me feel uncomfortable, Pam was so mousy-quiet, Dwight was "that guy" in the work-place, Angela was stuck-up. I just couldn't see what he liked so much about it.

I waited a few more days before giving it another shot. There's where my mistake was. By the second episode, you get hooked onto the show. That's where things start to unravel. You begin to start to feel for Jim and Pam, the beginning of many emotional feelings for them. Dwight, though still a seeming asshole, starts to grow on you with his traditionally-strict work ethic combined with his aloofness to Jim's pranks as well as his gullibility. Michael still made me feel uncomfortable, but episodes later will make you make you start to laugh at his awkward-funny moments that he refuses to stop giving.

This show is the reason I wasted three months of my life. I couldn't stop watching all nine seasons. I would get home from school, put my bag down, and walk straight to the computer. I would spend as long as I could watching it. The episodes were quick, mainly 20-22 minutes long, so you can watch a great deal of them in a day. Which is what I did. Despite having end-of-the-year exams to prepare for, I chose The Office until late at night when I decided it was time to take a break and attempt studying. I had to get through as many episodes as I could to help me with my Jim-and-Pam addiction. Being me, I was too curious about them and ended up googling about them with the full knowledge that this as a terrible idea. Apparently though, it wasn't enough to stop me. I ended up reading WAY into Pam's relationships throughout the entirety of the show as well as working my way to Angela's relationships. For what reasons, I couldn't tell you. I just had to stop myself before getting too involved in Pam. Which then led me to getting involved with Angela.

Oh me, why must I have done this to myself?

I had an addiction, and I needed it to end. Fast. the way to do it? I was able to refrain myself from watching for about two weeks after I finished season 3. I felt fulfilled enough that I could step away from it for a while. Until David returned from college. He immediately got me back into watching it by watching it with me. Mind you, from the time I told him that I started watching it, he decided he would re-watch it as well. He had already watched it through about two times by then. He had almost finished re-watching it a third time by the time he returned home for summer break. You think I sound addicted? Ha! Nothing compared to him.

He would get home, come in my room, and all he had to say was "Guess what time it is!" Once that was done, The Office was on my computer screen or our tv screen and that was the end of us for the night.

In the end, I have to thank my brother for introducing me to this wonderful, wonderful show. This show has taken me on such emotional roller coasters of which I am grateful for. This is the only show I can recall watching that has ever made me cry, and I watch some pretty dramatic tv shows. I keep seeing the actors faces everywhere I look now in movies and tv shows. I keep referring to them as their The Office character for that is now who I will permanently see them as.

Lately, I find myself logging on to Netflix but whenever I do, I'm lost. I don't know quite yet what to do with myself.