When Our Workplace is Upside Down!
Characters We Work With from ‘Stranger Things’
Office-Life can be run-o-the-mill, and it can sometimes feel strange and mysterious. When you are partnered with an eager group of people willing to brave the fast-paced, scary world of the workplace, you may find yourself in the Upside Down like the cast of the Netflix Sensation ‘Stranger Things’. From the conspiracy theorists and gadget lovers to the occasional telekinetic oddballs, the office can take on a dimension of its own. At every career stop you will meet an eclectic mix of people that make work interesting and help you to stay alert and find the courage to tackle any of the creatures who look to pull you in. They are whom we call the Characters We All Work With.
The Nancy Wheeler
In pretty much every workplace, there is that ‘special’ person who seems normal most of the time…until the pressure hits. The VP may be swinging by, or a deadline is fast approaching, or she may be under stress and sees two or three people milling around the coffee machine far too relaxed for the level of pressure she is feeling. We call her The Debbie. And when the Debbie is in that space, any one of a myriad of triggers can set her off, transforming her from Supervisor Debbie to Demogorgon Debbie, a terrifying creature who seems to flip from your mild-mannered colleague to a ferocious beast, devouring anyone who gets in her way. The smart move when Demogorgon Debbie emerges is to steer clear and offer sacrifices of coffee and snacks to appease her monstrous appetite.
The Chief Hopper
We all need a Chief Hopper around the office. With no shortage of ‘rascal’s and ne’er-do-wells skipping through the office on any given workday, shirking responsibilities and seldom holding up their end of the work bargain, the Chief Hopper will be there to straighten them out and steer them in the right direction. If you are a troublemaker who doesn’t take work as seriously as you should, you won’t last long with the Chief around.. He’s a tough mo-fo, even willing to take on the Debbie when she’s in Demogorgon Mode, unlike everyone else who scatters after her transformation. Yes, the Chief will first appear as gruff, too serious, and unable to enjoy life and work, but he is most certainly not. He cares about all of his colleagues, willing to mix it up and have fun with his colleagues…provided they are good, hard workers worth of his respect and his time.
The Joyce
Don’t we love the Conspiracy Theorists in life and in the workplace? Assuming they will never know that most of the time people are indulging them by listening, nodding, and smiling, walking away thinking they are out of their mind, it still makes for pure office entertainment. Here is our very own Joyce. Joyce truly believes in every conspiracy theory under the sun. She will tell you with all seriousness that the office microwave causes radiation, and that the office plants are communicating with some of your colleagues, or perhaps aliens, always able to provide the comic-relief we need at work. It can be hard to keep track of them all, should the Joyce want to bring up an old conspiracy theory she told you about once upon a time, but you can recover quickly as she loves to talk about them, and will have you smiling and actually appreciative of her boundless imagination and creativity.
The Dustin
From our earliest years, the kids we grew up with, those we went to school with, right throughout each stage of our career, there is that gadget persons, so good technically that they can seemingly build anything out of anything. That is our Office Dustin. You want the toaster oven to make copies? You want the Copier to warm your cheesey pita? Dustin is your guy! He is the savviest of the tech savvy, and willing to teach you every keyboard shortcut, what all the commands do, and in a flash, he is the one who will go through the same training you do on new software, and within a few days be teaching the training program to the rest. You have had some good laughs at his expense, like when he proposed that everyone stay at their desks at all times and communicate by walkie-talkie, but you hold him in the highest esteem knowing your next computer faux-pas is right around the corner, and it will be your friend Dustin you’ll be reaching out to(you’ll use the walkie-talkie if you want a quick response!) for assistance.
The Eleven
Now, we have been around some truly gifted people in our careers no doubt, and many of us are no doubt looked at as some of those gifted people. Whether we have come across the team member who shows her abilities to juggle objects in mid-air is another question. But here is our Eleven, the gifted multi-tasker, able to juggle tasks and assignments like she has magical powers. We look at the Eleven as the superhero of the office, amazed at her ability to catch emails in a flash, and tackle any project in the blink of an eye. Is the really that talented or another Samantha from ‘Bewitched’? (Sorry, that’s a different article!). To keep the Eleven cranking out great work as quickly and qualitatively as she have a steady supply of Eggo waffles on hand, as you’ve learned it seems to be her secret power-up snack. And we want our Eleven fed, happy, and working her Magic!
We may have fewer monsters than the average horror movie, but we certainly can relate to the ‘Stranger Things’ crew. We have seen things in our workplace turn Upside Down, giving us a view into the Real Characters We Work With, from the Demogorgons, Conspiracy Theorists, Eleven-like Multitaskers, Chief Hoppers, and Technical Wizards. The workplace is a melting pot for sure. When you’ve landed with a set of colleagues who bring the various talents and qualities of this cast, you are in for one of the more exciting, roller-coaster rides. The thrill, mystery and the unexpected will no doubt give you enough stories to share for a lifetime. Enjoy it!
The workplace can sometimes be as heartwarming as a Thomas Kincaide painting, where office dynamics can feel like a cheerful family sitcom and the stresses of work are like playtime with the clock. And we can’t help but notice how some of the people seem an awful lot like the characters of the long-running TV show ‘Full House.’ Gather ’round the office fireplace and think about how well some of this cast lines up with some of the work-casts we all have worked with throughout our careers.
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