Jim Tracks Dwight's Time

Episode
Business Ethics (Season 5, Episode 2)

Pranker
Jim Halpert

Target
Dwight Schrute

Description
Holly is in charge of a business ethics meeting when the subject of “time theft” comes up. She explains this is a situation where sitting around and doing nothing is on par with stealing in business. When Oscar admits he sometimes takes a long lunch (or siesta as Michael puts it), Dwight calls on his firing. Jim calls out Dwight, asking if he’s ever stolen company time. Dwight replies he hasn’t (though Michael calls him a thief of joy). Next time they are at their desks, Jim has a stopwatch and tracks how long Dwight takes to yawn. When Dwight confronts and begins to mock Jim, he notices the watch continuing to tick away the seconds. Once he returns to work, Jim logs a 17 second personal conversation.

Reaction
Dwight tries to focus to start, but Jim eggs him on. While sitting at his desk, Dwight overhears Jim start a conversation with Andy about Battlestar Galactica. When Jim mentions that it is just so-so, Dwight turns to confront, but Jim is there with the stopwatch to keep him at bay. He mentions all the cool monsters like Klingons and Wookies (causing Dwight to silently turn again) and tells Andy that is basically a shot-for-shot remake of the original series. He continues on, all while Dwight is boiling inside, about the story being about this guy named Dumbledore Calrissian who needs to return the ring back to Mordor. Even Andy mentions that that doesn’t sound right. This pushes Dwight into a working frenzy. Jim’s notes detail that he sneezed while keeping his eyes open and then he peed in an open soda bottle under the desk while filling out expense reports. Later, Jim notes a 19-minute, 48-second personal break that Dwight took. When asked, Dwight is unfazed and accepts the theft, all while Angela straightens her shirt in the background.


Originality
6 -Dwight’s pride in his work ethic is his downfall, but Jim has to be praised for his perfect job of driving Dwight crazy without having to hear anything in response. Dock him a point for the hypocrisy.

Length Taken
7 - This could have definitely gone farther. Jim started keeping track of small times and then went on to see if things could get escalated to a high level with his Andy conversation. He eventually sent Dwight into working overdrive, but that eventually made him go do his relaxing thing downstairs. Jim just wanted a little admission from Dwight that he was stealing company time and isn’t completely ethical.

Special Awards
Take it Like a Champ Award - Dwight gets this one because he never takes pranks well, even when they end. But, Jim was trying to make a point, and Dwight understood. Unfortunately, we know why Dwight isn’t completely ethical (enter creepy sex-grin here).
Blind Assist Award - To Andy, for knowing so little about Battlestar Galactica that the whole scene worked in Jim’s favor