The Office and Parks and Recreation

Both the shows The Office and Parks and Recreation involve married couples who:

1. Both work at the same job or at least in the same building
2. Their life revolves around work
3. Their coworkers are their main family
4. Have kids
5. The kids are mostly relegated to the background (especially the case for Parks)

I want to avoid that.

Jim and Pam

It’s great that Pam can work with her husband every weekday, but in isolation, it sends the wrong message to wives and mothers.

Subconsciously, it paints a picture that to have a really close, idyllic relationship with your spouse, you need to work with them.

That scenario is an outlier. Most spouses don’t work together at the same job. And possibly a significant percentage of the couples that do have far more work-related tension than the Office depicts.

It’s an outlier, and it’s a romanticized outlier.

I admit, it’s fun to watch. But I don’t think it’s an entirely healthy depiction.