text: Every time Toby brings up the book series he’s writing, The Flenderson Files, his coworkers roll their eyes. He brings it up so often that they’ve grown tired of hearing about it. Many introverts can probably relate to this – they often have blogs they love bringing up in every conversation, and non-writers have no idea how to respond.
  Unfortunately, for Toby, this fear is well-founded. He works with Michael Scott, who loves humor and enthusiasm and hates quiet calmness.
  Toby isn’t the only person who Michael insults for being “lifeless.” In Season 1, Pam is less than enthusiastic about throwing a birthday party for Meredith a month early just to boost morale.
  Michael then pretends his phone is a detector of alien lifeforms while saying, “Uh, Spock, are there any signs of life down there? Well, let me check, Captain. Eeee! Eeee! Eeee! Eeee! No, Captain, no signs of life down here. Just a wet blanket named Pam.”
  Pam also appears to be an introvert. She doesn’t say much, so she appears very polite (the less you say, the less chance there is of accidentally offending people). However, quiet people are not as innocent as they seem. Read my post, Is Pam Beesly a Good Role Model?, to learn more.
  Anyway, Michael is especially mean to Toby and insults him way more often than anyone else. While his main problem with Toby is his HR rules, it certainly doesn’t help that Toby is also his foil when it comes to enthusiasm – Michael is loud and energetic and Toby is quiet and tranquil.
  At Toby’s going away party, Pam hits the nail on the head when she says, “I’m gonna miss Toby. He had a nice calming presence in the office.”
  Surprisingly, Toby does attempt to be funny at least once that I remember. On Diversity Day, Toby makes a joke while walking into the conference room: “Hey, we’re not all going to sit in a circle Indian style, are we?” (this is Season 1 Episode 2, so it is actually the first time we meet Toby)
  You’d think Michael would appreciate that Toby is showing some personality, but instead he tells him to get out.
  “This is not a joke. What you said was offensive… and lame, so double offense. This is a place of welcoming, and… you should just get the hell out of here.”