The workplace setting has always been a great concept for sitcoms and Parks and Recreation ranks among the best of the genre. The employees of Pawnee’s small government services are themselves a group of colorful characters who often have to deal with many bizarre issues brought to them by the town’s eccentric citizens.
While there are plenty of moments of the characters triumphing in their professional lives, the mistakes they make tend to be more entertaining. With a lot of decisions to be made, some of the characters get overly ambitious, leading to blunders, while others are just hilariously careless about their work.
Leslie Opening The Gift Basket
Without a doubt, Leslie Knope is the most professional character on the show, which is something she takes great pride in. It’s hard to imagine her breaking the rules at all, but this is a small slip-up that spirals into more trouble.
Wanting to be accepted into the workplace “boys’ club”, Leslie opens a gift basket of liquor delivered by a local business, which against the rules. Though the small infraction could have gone undetected, Leslie fails to notice April, who is underage at the time, getting drunk on some of the wine.
Donna Blows Off Work
Donna Meagle is an underrated character who doesn’t get nearly enough to do on the show despite being a very likable person. However, there are moments where her blasé attitude can come off as disrespectful and selfish.
While working as an employee at April’s new animal shelter, Donna refuses to take the job seriously, leaving work without notice to go shopping. Not only that, but she seems to rub it in April’s face as if it doesn’t matter that she is being so unprofessional.
Leslie Rejecting Eagleton Park Designer
As a dysfunctional town, Pawnee has some bizarre history, including their longstanding feud with their neighboring town of Eagleton. While Leslie is usually such a kind person to everyone, she takes this feud to heart.
When looking to design a new park for Pawnee, Leslie finds the perfect submission from a designer. She is completely sold on the idea until she learns he is from Eagleton and then refuses to even meet with the man. Even when he offered to do the job for free, Leslie remains stubborn, denying Pawnee a great park for such a silly reason.
Scheduling 93 Meetings For The Same Day
Despite being the boss of the parks department, Ron Swanson is probably the biggest slacker in the office, doing his best not to do any government work, which he despises. He takes great pride in mentoring April, who also has little interest in the job, making her a perfect assistant for Ron.
But while April is usually very effective at keeping Ron as far away from the public as possible, one mistake leads to a nightmarish day for Ron. April had a tactic of scheduling any meetings for Ron on March 31st because she thought that day didn’t exist. Instead, Ron is forced to sit through nearly 100 meetings in one day, which is a personal hell for him.
Jerry Lying About Being Mugged
Jerry is that person in the office who gets picked on by everyone else despite him being a pretty nice guy. But there was at least one instance where he deserved a bit of criticism.
After returning from a park inspection with a broken arm, Jerry claims he was mugged. However, after Leslie makes a very public push for more park security, Jerry finally admits he hurt his arm when he fell while trying to pick up a burrito.
Ron Ruining The Employee Barbecue
While Ron is always a good friend who has helpful words of wisdom when needed, he can be a bit less supportive as a boss. When Leslie is out of town, Ron takes it upon himself to run the employee barbecue, which he does in a very Ron Swanson way.
Ron and Leslie have very different ways of doing things, but his reaction to some very valid criticism is one of the few times he acts immaturely. After some of the employees tell him it is a bad idea to slaughter a pig in front of everyone or to serve beer to children, Ron takes his barbecue and leaves in a huff.
Ben And Leslie Hiding Their Relationship
The relationship between Leslie and Ben was one of the sweetest inf the series, but it came with its share of complications. When they start to develop feelings for each other, they learn about Chris Traeger’s very serious no-dating policy at work.
Instead of questioning the fairness of that policy, Leslie and Ben try to keep their romance secret. This leads to a lot of lying and even some bribery, which lands them both in trouble and eventually leads to Ben having to quit his job.
Having A Water Balloon Fight In The Office
If there is one thing that Ron Swanson hates more than working for the government, it is being managed by someone else. So when Chris tells Ron that he will need to bring in someone else to fill in for Leslie’s absence, Ron decides to prove his team can accomplish a project without Leslie.
They choose a fairly straightforward project of making the drinking fountains more sanitary. But with the immaturity of the group, the project soon devolves into a water balloon fight, which does not look good for Ron’s team.
Tom Hiring And Dating Mona Lisa
Though Tom Haverford was never a very good government employee, he has a lot of passion for his own business ventures. One of the cleverer ideas is a clothing rental store for kids called Rent-a-Swag. But while Tom’s passion is clear, his hiring choices are questionable.
Tom hires Mona-Lisa, the sister of his best friend Jean-Ralphio. The fact that Jean-Ralphio calls Mona-Lisa “the worst person in the world” should have been Tom’s first clue. Sure enough, she is a useless employee who steals from the company. Even more foolish, Tom also begins an unhealthy relationship with her.
Leslie Resorting To Blackmail
Given how sweet and caring Leslie is, it’s quite surprising that her mother is quite an unpleasant person when she is first introduced. Not only is she mean and unsupportive of her daughter, but she also gives her some terrible advice.
When Leslie is trying to get a board member on her side, Leslie’s mother suggests she blackmail her with the fact that her husband is an alcoholic. It is completely against Leslie’s instincts and she immediately feels terrible for following the advice.
