The Office: 10 Erin Hannon Quotes That Represent All Of Us At Work

A big part of what made The Office such a huge success was the amazing cast of characters who inhabited the offices of Dunder Mifflin. Michael Scott might have been the star of the show, but it wouldn’t have been the same without the other colorful employees who each had their own unique and lovable quirks. Though Erin Hannon was a relatively late addition to the cast, being introduced in Season 5, she quickly became a favorite.

Erin was hired as the replacement secretary for Pam and seemed to fit right in on the show. Though not always the brightest person in the office, she is a kind and enthusiastic spirit who managed to steal countless scenes. Take a look back on one of The Office‘s funniest characters with Erin Hannon’s greatest quotes from the show, some of which neatly define all of our work lives.

10 “I would like another alcohol.”

One of the most charming things about Erin is that she is basically a grown-up kid. Despite being an adult, she is always seen as being very innocent and is intimidated by much of the adult world. Some of her funniest scenes see her forced to confront more mature situations.

During the office Christmas party, Erin is feeling sad, seeing Andy with his new girlfriend. She decides to act like an adult and drown her sorrows in alcohol, and to her surprise, she likes drinking. Her inexperienced way of ordering a drink is just a reminder that she’d probably be more comfortable with a juice box than a glass of wine.

9 “I’m not sure I’ve earned the right to make announcements yet…”

As fun as it is to watch the antics of Dunder Mifflin’s employees, this wouldn’t be an ideal place to work. Putting aside the disruptive boss, the office has more than a few rude and selfish people working there. That makes Erin stand out quite a bit.

No matter how much time she spends time with these inconsiderate people, Erin is always polite and concerned she’s overstepping her bounds. With all the inane interruptions that happen within an average day in any office, for Erin to be concerned about whether she’s allowed to make an announcement is funny and adorable.

8 “I boiled some Gatorade.”

Erin proves time and time again that she would either be the best assistant to have, or the worst assistant. She is always eager to serve, but she more often than not gets that service very wrong. Her heart is in the right place but her mind is somewhere else entirely.

After being heartbroken by Andy, Erin decides to live in Tallahassee, Florida as a caregiver for an elderly woman. Again, though she puts her all into the position, she makes a few mistakes. When serving tea to the woman, she decides boiled Gatorade is close enough. We’ve never tried it, but we’re going to assume that tastes awful.

7 “Talk to me that way again and I’ll cut your face.”

One thing Erin seems to love doing is playing pretend. She is often involved in some scheme that requires some sneaking around. She gets very into these ruses and can sometimes go a bit overboard when trying to sell the moment.

When she and Andy begin dating, they decide to hide that fact from the rest of the office. In order to not arouse suspicion, they speak to each other openly as coworkers then sneak affectionate whispers. Erin goes a bit over-the-top convincing the office she’s not interested in Andy with a pretty pointed threat. Still, you know how it can be with workplace romances.

6 “You left me in charge of the pens, Pam. That’s what happened. The pens happened.”

Erin might be an eager worker, but it doesn’t take too much to get her overwhelmed. Whenever anything unplanned comes her way, she becomes frantic and panicked. When Pam asks Erin to take care of a shipment of pens that will be arriving at the office, Erin goes into meltdown mode.

Not helping the situation at all, the office all decide to drink espressos to be more productive which, of course, leads to the office getting destroyed. When Pam returns to the scene of disarray, Erin is quick to take the blame for letting her task get out of control.

5 “Planking is one of those things where, hey, you either get it or you don’t… I don’t, but I’m so excited to be a part of it.”

Erin’s enthusiastic energy is what makes her one of the most likeable people on the show. In such a mundane setting, she almost always has a smile on her face and sees every new situation as an opportunity for fun. This is even true of the things she doesn’t fully understand, which happens a lot.

When the office becomes obsessed with the hottest trend, planking, Erin is one of the most gung-ho people to try it out. Of course, she doesn’t know what it is or why she’s doing it, but that’s not at all important to her.

4 “My last job was at a Taco Bell Express. But then it became a full Taco Bell and, I don’t know, I couldn’t keep up.”

Even though Erin is an absolute airhead, she seems to be pretty unaware of that fact. Even though she seems stumped and perplexed by relatively simple situations, she acts as if this is completely reasonable behavior for an adult.

As she hilariously recalls her past career pursuits, it becomes clear that is isn’t just an office setting that throws Erin off. She gets used to things being a certain way and when they change, like a fast food restaurant expanding slightly, she is completely lost.

3 “Thank god he’s my boss, because I would not have said yes to a first date if I didn’t have to.”

One of the most awkward relationships in The Office was the short-lived (but still too long) romance between Gabe and Erin. These two people quite clearly have nothing in common, and before we can even wonder how they become an item, Erin explains it perfectly.

This is a perfect encompassing of Erin’s character. She seems excited about dating Gabe, even though she’s clearly not. She’s too polite to dump him. She is also unaware that she admitted to not wanting to be in that relationship. Poor, sweet, simple Erin.

2 “Disposable cameras are fun, although it does seem wasteful. And you don’t ever get to see your pictures.”

Surely there must be people out there like Erin Hannon (we all work with one, let’s be honest), but sometimes she does something that makes it seem like she is from another planet. One of the funniest moments Erin has on the show is when she takes the last picture with her disposable camera and then tosses the camera in the trash.

Her explanation of her own unique understanding of how disposable cameras work is hilarious and sweet in its naivety. She might not grasp everything that comes her way, but she manages to just take everything in stride.

1 “Whenever I’m sick, it goes away within a few hours. Except that once when I was in the hospital from age three to six.”

Unlike many of her coworkers, Erin is far from being a selfish person. She is reluctant to speak too much about herself and seems to be oblivious to the more fascinating aspects of her life. For instance, she seems to remember this obviously serious medical condition of her youth as almost an after-thought.

Erin would never seek sympathy for such a story, but rather mention it in passing and then move on to not mention it again. It’s moments like that that make us laugh at Erin while finding her even more endearing, like that familiar co-worker who just lets a little too much slip without realising.

About The Author

Colin McCormick
(2037 Articles Published)

Colin McCormick is a Senior Writer with Screen Rant and has been a proud member of the team since 2019. In addition to his work as Screen Rant, Colin is also a writer of News, Feature and Review pieces at Game Rant. Colin has had a long passion and obsession with movies going back to the first time he saw The Lion King in theaters. Along with movies, Colin stays up-to-date on the latest must-see TV shows. While he loves to find interesting projects in any kind of genre, he has a special movie of crime stories that are infused with a little dark humor much like the work of his favorite author, Elmore Leonard.

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