How I Met Your Mother (7): I Was Supposed To Finish A Ninja Report Yesterday.

This is the kind of episode I have been waiting for. Ted was being a nice and slightly fussy guy, Barney enlightened us all about another aspect of the nature of modern life, and Robin tried to solve a problem with guns. And Marshall finally said out loud that Barney and his brother have two different fathers! Funny, sweet, all around fine episode.

I would like to thank How I Met Your Mother for raising our awareness of the horrible consequence of career unhappiness: decreased sex drive/opportunity, trouble urinating in public, crying in front of your boss, realizing that your friends do not have any more of an idea how to handle problems than you do. A bad job doesn’t just stay at the office; it follows you home and infects every aspect of your life.

And while we wish we were better people, show of hands: who has participated in the circle/chain/pyramid of yelling? My hand is raised. I do not think anyone is really innocent of having yelled at someone beneath them after being yelled at by someone above them. (In fact, as I was watching the episode a superior snipped at me and I in turn snipped at a coworker. Are there jobs that do not start before noon?) Marshall’s experience with the waiter makes clear that you cannot attempt to manipulate the system through artificial scenarios and the final result of his attempt shows that all manipulation inevitably brings the system down upon your own head again.

These varied effects are valuable things to know, especially if you have a sucky boss/job. Yelling a friend will never be as cathartic as yelling at that sucky boss, but by yelling at that boss you may end up quitting and eating an overly ketchuped burger in a friend’s new car. Will your friend be a generous as Ted and sell that new car in order to give you the money to pay your mortgage?

Guys, just to let you know, I won’t be like Ted.

The TV Girl