As a student in the 1990s, my favorite genre of TV shows and movies was high school stories (the latest example of the “last day of high school” subgenre has recently arrived in the form of “I Love You, Beth Cooper”).
And since I’ve entered the workplace, I’ve enjoyed the cubicle genre. (Newsrooms — with their hustling and bustling — are a rather loose version of cubicle culture, but they are close enough for me to relate.) In this genre, “Dilbert” is the comic-strip staple, “Office Space” is the movie touchstone, and both incarnations of “The Office” have the boob tube covered.
And among Internet columnists, Dudley B. Dawson is the winner. He writes Life in the Cubicle for The Examiner, and you can find it by clicking here. Then bookmark it, because you’ll be going back.
Stories ring most true — most dramatic, most comedic — when they are something from our everyday lives, and Dudley B. Dawson (an alias, of course) writes what he knows — working a desk job in a large office for a large company. Without seeming to try too hard, he’s often quite funny. Some of his columns parody the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective …” format (the target could be interns, slackers or your morbidly obese coworkers). Other columns provide handy tips such as how to sneak out of work early (never wear a jacket, it’s a dead giveaway, Dudley says) or how to surf the Net without having your privacy interrupted (some sort of reflective surface will help you spot visitors quickly). And his absolutely funniest musings, of course, have to do with the workplace bathroom.
He also does a lot of linking to previous columns or to relevant articles in The Onion or elsewhere on the Web. With these tools and Dudley’s real-life observations, Life in the Cubicle provides an impressively detailed look at just about any cubicle scenario or issue you can think of.
Dudley isn’t for everyone (but I think readers of this blog will like him), and the comment threads after his posts make this clear. There are enough regular responders — particularly one named Jill — who hate his column that it makes me wonder if these haters are genuine or if this is all a new form of interactive comedy. I’m guessing these people are real, for the same reason the people in Sacha Baron Cohen’s movies are clearly real — a writer couldn’t dream them up.
Although I wouldn’t stand behind all of his recommendations, I am pro-Dudley. American institutions have so much inertia behind them that they are hard to change. I thought those high school shows and movies were pointing at a problem we needed to address in the ’90s, but since bad coming-of-age experiences are still explored today in “Beth Cooper” (and were chronicled before then, in John Hughes movies), I guess it’s just part of being an American.
Same with bad cubicle jobs, which account for 35 to 80 percent of the American workforce (my unscientific estimate). But here’s the thing: There is absolutely nothing wrong with pointing out how much a typical cubicle job sucks, and that’s why Dudley has an audience. You can suck it up if you want, but don’t tell the rest of us to suck it up; that’s our choice to make.
Two types of people work the Cubicle Job (I think it can be capitalized now, just like someone’s High School Years): The type who embraces it and defends it (the Drone), and the type who recoils from it and criticizes it (Dudley). Amidst his humor, Dudley provides good tips for dealing with specific problems, such as needing to get outside more on nice summer days. But generally, if you work a Cubicle Job, it boils down to a few options: 1, Embrace the good things about the job you have, and don’t dwell on the bad things; 2, Maneuver for your next job, which might be better (I can attest that there are good jobs out there; I found one); or 3, Have a hobby — or maybe even your own business idea — outside of work that you can look forward to.
Dudley has clearly given up on trying to change things from within, and I think he’ll eventually come to a conclusion in the vein of “Office Space’s” Peter Gibbons. In the end, the former Initech employee was happier working a construction job where he got “fresh air and bucks.” In the case of Dudley, his columns help him get through the day, and as a bonus, he provides laughs to me and many other readers.
What are your thoughts on making fun of the American workplace? Is it an off-limits topic (should we just be happy we have a job in this economy)? Or is it fair game? After all, there’s nothing more American than criticizing America, right?
Comments
John – Thanks for the fantastic review of my column. Truly appreciate it.# Posted By Dudley B. Dawson | 7/13/09 9:42 PM
Dudley — No problem. Thanks for immediately getting me my most views ever just by virtue of writing about your column.# Posted By John Hansen | 7/13/09 11:44 PM