Diwali

At the end of last night's episode of The Office, we saw Michael make a very clumsy advance towards Pam right after his very clumsy public proposal to his "girlfriend," Carol. Ah, Michael... not only does he not know how to conduct a real-life adult relationship, he always complicates things when he misinterprets someone offering a shred of compassion towards him.

But you'd think Pam would have known that, having worked for Michael for so many years. His heart just got broken through his own doing, and she knows he can't handle that kind of thing. It was admirable that she tried to comiserate with him, but she shouldn't have been surprised that Mike might take that the wrong way.

So why did she get so pissed at him? Knowing what she knows, you'd think that she'd just back away and say something like, "Uh, Michael, I know you don't mean that." I mean, she did give him a ride home. But she made him sit in the back and not talk. Hm... maybe Michael got what he deserved after all.

(S03E06) You know, this show does it to me every time. I've probably reviewed about 10 episodes of The Office that I have considered classics. Well, you can count this one as number 11.

The episode focused on "Diwali", a major Hindu festival which is celebrated, coincidentally, at this time of the year. In this instance, Kelly has invited the entire staff to a Diwali celebration, and most of the folks are enthusiastic about going, but some, including Angela, are a bit skeptical, if not downright hostile to the idea.

To drum up enthusiasm, Michael convenes a meeting where he attempts to explain "Hindu Halloween" and celebrate the diversity of the Indian/Hindu culture. His presentation includes pictures of famous Indians, and one of them was Apu from The Simpsons, which elicited guffaws from this blogger. Absolute brilliance from the writers.