That Guy

I have recently become addicted to the show How I Met Your Mother. I was late on the bandwagon, I know, and after watching tons and tons of reruns I'm really mad I waited this long to become obsessed with this show. Sidenote: yes, I have a crush on Jason Segel and no, I'm not ashamed of it.

So while watching one of my reruns the other night, I happened upon an episode where Barney Stinson (aka the greatest TV character of all time) gave a great nugget of info to the love of my life Jason Segel aka Marshall about how to not get laid off. He said, and I quote, "You just need a way to make yourself absolutely essential...You need a thing. Something that makes you fun and well-liked."

Which segued into the types of "those guys" in the office - the Food Guy, Toy Guy, YouTube Clip Guy, and so on. So in an effort to become indispensable Marshall became Fantasy Football Guy.

And while obviously this show is meant to be funny and not taken completely seriously, I started to ponder about this theory. Could it actually work in the work force? And I have to say yes I think it can. At my last job, there were tons of people who should not have been there but they had a 'thing' they were known for. Like I was indispensable because I knew how to work our mail system and where supplies were and sadly I could navigate our storage area like a pro. I had common knowledge of our office but it wasn't something that everyone could do. I had given myself a shield of some sort.

Recently at my office, a few people have been fired. And I know I'm not in HR so I can't say for sure they why, but of course it makes you think, 'Oh God, I'm next'. It's the automatic reaction. And I don't think I have a "thing" yet at my more recent job. I think my best bet is to become the Party Girl - not in that I get wasted all the time but that I always plan parties. Then I'll be golden!

What "guy" are you at work?

The Food Guy making tacos on How I Met Your Mother