In the original BBC version of The Office, the overly ambitious Gareth Keenan often exaggerates his job title, and is put in his place by his boss, David Brent:
Gareth: "I'm assistant regional manager."
David: "Assistant to the regional manager."
Gareth is that one person in the office that everyone hates. He’s the guy who gets so worked up when his stapler disappears that stealing his stapler becomes a sport for everyone else in the office. His hard work as the boss’ lap dog paid off when he was eventually promoted to Regional Manager after David Brent was deemed redundant.
So imagine my amusement when reading Maureen Dowd’s column about FEMA chief Michael D. Brown (aka Brownie), who was recently relieved from his duties following the Hurricane Katrina relief debacle:
Time magazine reported that Brownie's official bio described his only stint in emergency management as "assistant city manager" in Edmond, Okla. But a city official told Time that the FEMA chief had been "an assistant to the city manager," which was "more like an intern."
It is now well known that Brownie’s last management position was as the commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association. Maybe Bush should’ve put Gareth in charge of FEMA, at least he was in the Territorial Army.
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