Most Viewers Missed This Small Detail In The Office's Timeline

As fans of NBC's "The Office" can tell you, the show is lousy with Easter eggs. From a voodoo doll of Roy hanging in Jim's room to David Wallace (Andy Buckley) having a "World's Best Boss" mug just like Michael Scott (Steve Carell), the producers of "The Office" have filled the show with all sorts of fun little tidbits. However, there's one Easter egg in particular that even the most hardcore, eagle-eyed fanboy or fangirl has missed over the years. And as user on Reddit pointed out, it all has something to do with a certain copier.

On February 1, 2009, after the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, NBC ran an episode of "The Office" called "Stress Relief" (via IMDb). The episode finds Dwight (Rainn Wilson) setting the office up for a lesson in fire safety. As per usual with Dwight, he takes the unorthodox step of locking most of the doors to inspire his co-workers to think on their feet. Chaos and hilarity ensue as Jim (John Krasinski), along with office co-worker, Andy (Ed Helms), use the company's copier as a battering ram to break down one of the office's doors. Of course, it does nothing of the sort, only destroying the copier in the process.

Fast forward two months to April 9, 2009. In episode 23 of Season 5, called "Michael Scott Paper Company," Michael Scott quits Dunder Mifflin due to conflicts with his new boss, Charles Miner (Idris Elba). In doing so, he starts the infamous Michael Scott Paper Company along with Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) and Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak). Renting an oversized closet in the bowels of the same building as Dunder Mifflin, Michael's in a pinch to fill his new office with the equipment every company needs. So, what does he do? What any other good American does when starting a company, he pilfers the trash. Specifically, Dunder Mifflin's trash. And in doing so, Michael Scott takes the copier broken in the "Stress Relief" episode and uses it for his own.

This is where eagle-eyed Redditors come into the story. As pointed out in this Reddit thread, the word "trash" is scrawled in black marker rather large on the side of the copier in Michael Scott's office. Clearly, this is the copier used by Jim and Andy to break out of the office during Dwight's fire safety training. And Michael Scott literally took that busted-up copier out of the trash. As it turns out, it was just another item that Michael took from Dunder Mifflin, along with letterhead, reams of paper, clients — and Pam and Ryan.