Scranton Insider on “Health Care”

As always, Dave gives us the view as a Scranton Insider:

Hello, folks! Another week, another episode of The Office. Here we go.

Terrified of having to tell his staff about the pending cuts in the Dunder-Mifflin health plan, Michael goes on a mission throughout Scranton to find a “big surprise” to offset the bad news. He first lands at Scranton Travel, Inc. The address label we see lists the agency as residing at 150 Adams Avenue in Scranton, with a zip code of 18503.

Scranton Travel, Inc. is indeed a real place, and that’s its real address. Specifically, the reservation center is on Adams Avenue, and the main offices can be found just a few blocks away on North Washington Avenue. Both locations are in the downtown area and very close to Dunder-Mifflin.

While at the travel agency, Michael asks about “those busses” that go to Atlantic City and pretty much comp or include the price of everything you’d want to do over on the Jersey shore. He’s half right about this.

Bus tours do in fact leave Scranton for the high-rolling casinos of Atlantic City, New Jersey fairly regularly, but you don’t get included food, comped rooms or anything like that (though you they may throw in a few chips or something).

Michael soon exits Scranton Travel and picks up his cell phone. He calls the Lacakwanna Coal Mine Tour (how cool that a genuine pamphlet was on the show! I have to give the props department…well…props). (link) This is very much a real thing, and yes, it is 300 feet below ground (and no, the journey into the mine isn’t a free fall as Michael suggested. That proved to be rough on the miners).

I’ve taken the tour many times myself, and it’s a lot of fun. In fact, it was my go-to activity for out of town visitors. Once you’ve been issued your mining helmet, you board the winch-driven cable car and begin the slow descent (about four minutes) into the mine, where it’s a constant 50 degrees. You then get out and walk around the mine, learning all about how mines were created, the coal extracted and the day’s results hauled back up to the surface. I think it’s pretty interesting, actually, and all of the tour guides I’ve met down there have known their stuff. At the end, you receive an “Honorary Miner” certificate. If you’re ever in Scranton, check it out.

Ok, infomercial over. This episode wasn’t as jam-packed with references as previous episodes, but these two were pretty good. Thanks for reading, folks. Talk to you again soon.

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