Spiritual Lessons from Michael Scott: Goodbye Toby

Finally, in season 4’s “Goodbye Toby,” Michael gets to rid himself of his least favorite person on earth—Toby Flenderson. Why he hates Toby so much is anybody’s guess. Despite Michael’s view of The Office as one big happy family, Toby is the butt of all of his jokes and is not accepted. Early on in the episode Michael declares with vengeance:

Toby has been cruisin' for a bruisin' for twelve years. And I am now his cruise director. And my name is Captain Bruisin'.

Captain Bruisin. Nice.

Michael awaits with eager anticipation the moment to give Toby his exit interview. Michael is under the opinion that an exit interview is the time that he can grill Toby with all the questions he always wanted to ask. When the HR director (lovely Holly) demands that she sit in on the interview, Michael realizes he can no longer be cruel, but he has no choice but to read off his pre-written questions off his cue cards!

Question 1: *asked nicely* “Who do you think you are?

Question 2: *asked awkwardly* “What gives you the right?”

He has a going away present for Toby which is a rock that says “suck on this,” but because Holly is there, he ends up giving Toby his treasured wristwatch instead.

He now believes Toby to be monstrous.

Thanks to Toby I have a very strong prejudice against Human Resources. I believe that the department is a breeding ground for monsters. What I failed to consider though, is that not all monsters are bad. Like ET.

Ok, now for something slightly spiritual…

Church is a family too. But there is always that one family member you could live without. Truth is, you may not even remember why anymore. Was it a falling out? Was it something he said? Or is it just her personality? It doesn’t matter. God says, that because we are his children, we are also brothers and sisters. And we need to love one another. When you are having trouble getting along with someone, try thinking of them as your literal sibling, and see the difference it starts to make. Pray blessings on them. Pray for God to heal the situation. Go out of your way to do something nice to them. It will make all the difference.

Or you could just give them a rock.

What is one of your favorite quotes from The Office?