I liked this story. Actually I loved it. I found Orozco’s writing to be unencumbered and simple. His satire on the work place was a bit depressing in the way that it made the cycle of office life seems inescapable. His choice to start and end the story with fairly similar statements was an interesting writing choice. I mean, it obviously showed the cycle these people are stuck in, but in between that boring beginning and end, there is a slightly amusing middle. In this “middle” all the quirky folks are introduced. Though these people in Orientation are introduced in some detail, they are still somewhat depersonalized. It gives the reader a feeling that it can so easily be them stuck in the monotonous environment. Despite all of this, Orozco’s approach to the whole topic was comical and pleasant. It almost makes office work enticing. But I think I’ll hold off for as long as possible.
-Alyson Bonura
Reading this story was very amusing. I agree with you when you say it seems easy to be stuck in a monotonous environment. Although I don’t work in an office, standing up all day selling sunglasses isn’t an ideal job. I work alone and gets very boring. During the winter time it is very monotonous, and I get the ugliest customers who don’t understand they sunglasses are for the sun not the heat. Ad simple as my job seems, there are more rules and protocals then just selling sunglasses. My job also seems like a cycle because it’s the same routine everyday. Alot of people would think working in an office would
be boring but working in retail is stressful and boring, especially when the manager is crazy and your the only one working.
This is great! I sort of fine the style to be Fight Club meets the office (on sedatives or something). As someone who worked in various office environments for over a decade, this story is pretty crazy. I remember, my first office job everyone was almost too personal (an amazing contrast to your experience, Miro), and the big boss man collected frogs–real ones and stuffed animals and even a Chia Pet that I was in charge of when he went on vacation and because I have nothing close to a green thumb I killed it and almost lost my job as a result.
I keep finding myself thinking about the tone/style of this piece…Is this the voice of an office? Is this the voice we have to take on in order to survive the mundane?
Although it can be called satire, I think that Orozco actually speaks cynically about the workplace. Every aspect has a negative connotation, and many of them are obviously futile and useless, the way bureaucracies often operate. Like outdated rules put in place for a forgotten reason, now just acting as stops for efficiency. Actually, I’ve worked in three offices so far, albeit for a short time, but none of them had enforcements that were so strict and adhered to.
However, my experience with the people certainly was similar. The interesting thing is, the narrator is really letting the reader into the lives of the other workers, which is rarely the case in reality, where it takes months to find out intimate details about others, if at all. I agree that the everyone is perceived as “depersonalized” and I think that has to do with how the office environment is… No one really likes anybody else, they just have to tolerate them.
I find the style and tone more “Fight Club” than “The Office”.