Pam Beesly From the Office Teaches Us a Little More About Life

Back in Season 5 of the Office, I remember a scene where Michael was ready to walk away from Dunder Mifflin to start a new paper company:

Pam: I’m going with him.
Jim: What? Pam!
Pam: I’m going.
Jim: Pam! You can’t be serious.
Pam: Michael, wait! I’m coming with you.
Michael: You are?
Pam: Yeah.
Michael: Okay. It’s going to be great.
Pam: Great. Uh, except, I don’t want to be a receptionist anymore.
Michael: Right… Executive assistant.
Pam: Salesman.

Salesman. Pam was tired of her life as a receptionist. She wanted change, so she joins Michael to start a new paper company. As viewers know, Michael is destined to fail. Pam probably realizes this too. But she sees a sliver of hope. And that bit of hope was a future where she wasn’t a receptionist.

Pam eventually becomes a saleswoman. But this was one of the first times that she had a chance to break away from life as a receptionist. Even viewers of the show were used to her as a receptionist. But Pam never really liked being one. Earlier in the series, she even tried going to art school to chase her dreams. That didn’t work out though.

Anyways, her old life was safe, and the new one not so safe. But like many things in life, you have to take a chance. You can’t always stay with what’s safe or you may never even leave home. You may never end up where you really belong.

Pam took a chance. And Pam teaches us that sometimes, you need to take that chance. Yes, it’s scary because we’re not sure what will happen. It wouldn’t be called a “chance” if it was guaranteed.

But sometimes you fall. In the next episode, we see where Pam’s decision led her:

Pam: I can’t do this.
Michael: What’s that?
Pam: I can’t do this. I had a real job. I sat ten feet away from my fiance. I had health benefits. I was just feeling impulsive. I should have gotten a tiny tattoo on my ankle.
Michael: Blech.
Pam: I just keep getting bored. And I let things build up and build up and then I – I, I do something too big, like this. Who does this?

This is one of my favorite moments in the Office because Pam is an example of how everyone with a boring (but safe) job feels. Is your job that way? Do you let it bottle up like that?

People get comfortable with their lives. They settle into them. It’s hard to figure out if what you’re doing is the right thing if you’re comfortable doing it. Why? Because any change—good or bad—will push you out of your comfort zone. It’s even harder if your standard of living demands that you stay in your current job. You’ve created a box for yourself.

Pam says that she should have just gotten a tattoo instead. That’s a funny line because nothing is farther from the truth. If you had to pick between getting a tattoo and chasing a dream, what would you pick?

Of course, Michael hits a home run with his response:

Pam: How come out of everyone in the office, I’m the only one that went with you? Is it because I’m that stupid? I mean, your own grandmother doesn’t even believe in you!
Michael: I want you to listen to me. Because I want to tell you the situation that we are both in right now, kay? You quit your job. I quit my job. We both quit. Those are the facts. That’s what happened. Now, what are our choices right now? Because you know, kiddo, you quit.
Pam: Yeah.
Michael: So what are our options? Well, we can start this paper company. We can try. Or… that’s it. That’s our only option. Because we quit. Pam, I do my best work when people don’t believe in me. I remember in high school, my math teacher told me I was gonna flunk out. And know what I did? The very next day I went out and I scored more goals than anyone else in the history of the hockey team. See what I mean? I thrive on this. I thrive on it. So I’m gonna go inside. I’m going to make some calls, I’m gonna get us an office space, and I’m going to show you why you joined this company. Okay? [Pam nods]

At the end of the day, it didn’t matter whether she succeeded or failed. She went after what she wanted. Even if she did fail, she would never have to ask “what if?”.