Daniel Orozco's Orientation: Interpersonal Relationship In A Typical Office

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Lucy Nwosu Dr. Eva Foster English 1302 19 June 2015 Interpersonal Relationship in a Typical Office. In Daniel Orozco’s story “Orientation”, the narrator paints the picture of the orientation of a new employee in a typical work place. The story starts with the narrator showing the new employee the office layouts and cubicles: “those are the offices and these are the cubicles”, (para 1). The narrator shows the new employer the basic tools he will be working with such as the phone and voice system manual as well as the necessary service stations like the kitchenette and the photocopier room. Noticeably, the narrator did not mention the job function of the new employee and this suggests that the author used the omission as a ploy to keep the reader …show more content…

The narrator uses a formal tone throughout the story. Possibly to show the formality of the orientation process. This is seen from the beginning of the story which starts with” those are the offices, and those are the cubicles” (para 1). The author the formal tone to neutralize the effect of the series of gossips encountered in the story. The narrator continuously alternates between giving instructions and describing the other workers without losing the professional tone. The story is an implied conversation between the narrator and the new employee. The narrator made reference to the fact the new employee must have spoken, “what do I mean? I ‘m glad you asked that” (para 3). …show more content…

A present-day office is filled with rigid laws, ethics, and instructions that must be followed by an employee. Strong human relationships are also built over time, while details of both the good and bad aspect of co-workers personal life become common knowledge with mild boosts of the office romance between employees that spices up the office environment. All these aspects of a typical office were captured by Orozco, bringing to mind a quote by Arlie Russel Hochschile, “For many of us, work is the one place where we feel appreciated. The things that we long to experience at home – pride in our accomplishments, laughter and fun, relationships that aren’t complex – we sometimes experience most often in the office. Bosses applaud us when we do a good job. Co-workers become a kind of family we feel we fit into.” Generally the theme of the story was well portrayed by the