Why Severance’s dystopian hellscape makes me long for a return to the office

If you haven’t seen the show (and if you haven’t, why not?) it’s a clever satire directed by Ben Stiller, about the ultimate work-life balance where workers can undergo a procedure, to completely separate their work self from their home self.

In which severance pay world, you never bring your work home (because you have no idea what you did at work) and you never get distracted at work by things like, “What’s for dinner?” or ‘Have you packed your child’s sports equipment?’ because you have no idea if dinner or your kids exist.

It’s a very trendy idea after a few years of throwing the whole concept of work-life balance in the mixer.

And now, as some companies herald the return to the office, there’s been a clamor for resistance. A recent US survey found that up to 45 percent of remote workers quit rather than return to the office.

All current buzzwords revolve around the integration of “home you” into the workplace. The importance of “bringing yourself to work with all your might” (“it’s okay to talk about kids, pets, hobbies!”), hybrid working, more flexibility.

But with so much emphasis on the needs and benefits of the home version of ourselves, I wonder if we’ve lost sight of all that the office and dedicated “work” has to offer.

It’s been 10 years since I last worked in an office, but when the cantaloupe was rolled into the Lumon office for the staff at Microdata Refinement in an early episode of severance pay, I was transported back to one of the first offices I worked in and the joy that used to greet the tea trolley. Ah, the midmorning joy evoked by the sound of squeaking wheels, the deliberations over tea or coffee, the chance to throw caution to the wind with a cherry scone.

It’s those little rewards that only exist in an office environment. A scone at home just isn’t enough. Being part of an organization is so much more than just a name on a payslip — it’s the branded office supplies, the year-end coupons, the chats in the kitchen, and weird, unfounded animosities between departments.

video of the day

When I think back to my time in the office, it’s not the hours in front of the screen that strike me, but the little extras like Friday coffee and after-work drinks, it’s comforting to cry colleagues in the restroom, and to meet the man who would become my husband in the office elevator .

Bringing yourself fully to work is a noble idea, but there’s also a lot to be said for simply switching off from home for a while and focusing on something else entirely. I miss work clothes. Even in the staggeringly pivotal moments of the storyline severance paypart of me was like ‘that’s a pretty pencil skirt’.

The show’s “five-minute music-dance experience” brought back memories of a nearly empty dance floor and me awkwardly hopping to Bruce Springsteen with a former boss.

As much as we said we feared them, it was always those office bonding events that successfully fulfilled their mission of making us feel like a team. The horror that unites the Microdata Refinement team severance pay is at the extreme end of the scale, but there is a beautiful relationship between them, a unique bond that can only form between colleagues in an office.

When severance pay So brilliantly illustrated, life works best when not split in two, and hopefully hybrid working will be here to stay for those who want it. But don’t leave the office too soon. As someone who lost contact a long time ago, I can tell you that you may miss it when it’s gone.

Brooklyn’s tasteful wedding is a far cry from his parents’ memorable big day

There was a lot of outrage over Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz’s wedding and its $3.5 million asking price. But to be honest, my biggest disappointment is how tasteful the affair seems to have been. The bride wore a custom-made Valentino gown, the groom – the eldest of the Beckham brood – was decked out in a Dior tuxedo, and the entire day, exquisite and choreographed, was captured to grace the pages of the style bible Fashion.