Office Friends

This is something that has perplexed me in the show. Why isn't Ryan better friends with Jim and Pam or at least Jim. Here's my reasoning for it. First off and probably the most obvious reason for this is that they all seem to be about the same age. Secondly, it seems like Jim and him would get along so well. There are other reasons for my thinking.

They all share the same hatred for their job and in that type of work atmosphere usually there's a bond that forms between people in this sense. Pam and Jim are a prime example. However, they also have the hotts for each other. That might take away from the crediblity of their friendship and maybe dismissed as mild flirting. Nevertheless, the commonality that they share still proves somewhat true to this theory.

Looking into their personalities, these three characters also have similar senses of humor. Jim and Pam once again have fine tuned their minds to operate on the same level whereas Ryan doesn't quite get the joke or ignores it butwill still instigate or participate in a few zingers in opportune moments. For example, when the old boss died and Michael had the grief seminar and he made everyone share a moment where someone close to them dies, Ryan pulled out the Lion King reference and Pam also ran with it. This further proves the potiential for a friendship.

Outside of work, Ryan didn't hang out with them (and there is really no evidence that Jim and Pam hangout but there has been a few things mentioned that lean that way) but at after work functions and parties, Ryan would be seen kind of hanging around them. At the dundee's (sp?) for exampe, Jim and Ryan sit together. He also goes to Jim's party. I think that in another instance, I saw them together at one point during the Booze Cruise.

Ryan also dates Kelly. His relationship with her is a reflection on his life there at Dunner-Mifflin. Mainly, this comes from his entrance as a temp. Not really having a choice as to where he would go in his occupational endeavor, he is stuck at D-M. Now, after he is offered the sales position there, he decides to stick with it, probably seeing it as a bridge to the start of his own business. Just like his in his relationship with Kelly, they hook up and he tries to break up with her, but in the end he sticks with it because it's essentially all he has right now.

Not to say that Kelly isn't fun, she doesn't seem to fit the criteria of Jim, Pam, and Ryan. I know that they all get along with her, Jim the least, but for the most part they talk pretty often. Kelly also is in their age group, however, she doesn't seem as if she would connect well with Jim and Pam which suprises me that Ryan is dating her.

Ryan is a pretty serious person though. When he does work, he takes what he does seriously and doesn't like to let things come in between him and his work. This can be seen on numerous occasions though. All his talks about business school, and his dominant attitude toward Jim's old desk durning the Stamford/Scranton merger. He is also very ambitious and has this eagerness to learn. I don't think that he does much outside of work. This is might what separtate him from Jim and Pam.

With all of this, this is my analysis of this situation. Ryan went to college to study business. While in college he probably did a lot of goofin off. He said he was in a frat and knows how to down a beer or a carbomb. This is also where the fun side of his personality was formed. He had fun in college and after graduating, he decided to get his act together. Being in the real world persuing real jobs probably made him grow up. Many aspects of his college life come out every now and then in but he keeps that at a minimal. Jim and Pam never went to school from my understanding (this could be very wrong and it is a bold statement, please correct me if it is). Therefore they did not get to experience the fun and sophmoric attitude that people get to have in college, hence the shananagans. While Ryan is past that stage in his life, Pam and Jim are still some what in it. This attitude with Jim maybe changing shortly though....