The Office.

I recently saw an episode of "The Office," a show all of my corporate world friends tell me reminds them SO much of their desk jobs. Curiosity crept up on me, and I decided to see what I had been missing out on...

THe show's hilarious. HOWEVER, I'm so thankful my life does not resemble that show in the least bit. I hope it never does.

I'm especially thankful that Michael Scott has nothing to do with my real life supervisor, J.

J is the most flexible, considerate, and encouraging person I have ever worked with in my life. We have a great realtionship, I call her "Boss" and she calls me "Missy"... We meet weekly, to go over any questions I may have, as well as for her to make sure I am on task with everything. Those meetings, she says, are for me to come to her with questions.

I can never complete a task with her noticing and not have her thank me, or go so far as to tell me what a 'GREAT JOB!!!!!' I did. When I've made a mistake, J never yells, patronizes, or talks down to me. She always tells me it's ok and not to worry. Because of her constant coolness, J knows that I feel comfortable telling her anything, even if I pressed "50" instead of "5" on the copy machine and wasted 45 pieces of paper.

This year, there have been moments where I've gotten upset over a client's situation, and I've kept myself strong throughout my appointment with the client, and when the client has left, I've just ran into J's office to vent and cry, and J per usual listens... and tells me it's ok. She's been that person I can complain about the state of the world to in the office, the person I can complain to about working with a certain difficult client, or just say, "MAN. Sorry I was late today!" and she'll say, "MISSY! That's ok! I don't care what time you get here as long as you get your work done."

Most importantly, J has believed more in me than I have in myself, certain times. Her faith in me is through the roof, and she constantly is telling me how great I'm going to do in the future. Her encouragement and motivation makes my own motivation grow and grow... making me think I am capable of things I am not even aware of yet.

One day, when I am hopefully on top of some company or organization or firm, I hope my style is like J's... to be supportive and motivating, to react calmly and cooly to "mistakes!", to be stern when needed, but to never let the person under me think that they cannot trust me.

THIS one is for my boss and for those people who just believe in you, and make your world easier. They're in many ways responsible for your successes... some day I hope I can pay back that debt to all those teachers I've had.

I'll give J a call and say "BOSS! GUESS WHO!?" and she'll say.... "MISSY!!!!!"