One day, Pam was bored. So, she got up from reception and went over to Jim’s desk. She actually did have a reason for going over there- she needed to give him a fax from corporate- but she was also bored. And, she had a question for him.

When Jim saw Pam leaning on his desk, he turned to her. “What’s up?”

“Well Jim, two things. You have a fax from corporate that just arrived, and, I have a serious question for you.”

“Serious, huh?” he asked while taking the fax and setting it on his desk.

“Oh, yes. Probably the most important thing you’ll have to do all day.”

He turned to fully face her and sat back casually, letting her know he was listening intently.

“What is the difference between cement and pavement?”

“What?”

“I said-“

“I know what you said, but, c’mon Beesly. The difference between cement and pavement?”

“Yes,” she smiled. “I want to know.”

He turned and faced his computer again, “One word, Wikipedia.”

She grabbed his chair to get him to face her again. “Please, find out for me?” Pam begged, while pouting out her bottom lip.

Jim sighed, annoyed. No matter what, he couldn’t resist that pouty lip. He knew he would regret this. “Fine. What do you what do you want me to do?”

Pam clapped her hands excitedly. “Yay! Okay, um.” She looked around, trying to think. “Ask Dwight.” She said with a whisper.

Jim gave her an are-you-kidding-me look, and she returned with a you-said-you-would look. Jim gave a great, dramatic sigh, and turned to face Dwight. He cleared his throat. Then he hunched over his desk, “Psst. Dwight. Over here.” He whispered, none to quietly. Pam giggled behind him.

Dwight sighed. “What, Jim?”

“I have a question for you.”

“What is it?” Dwight asked, either ignoring or not noticing Jim whispering.

“What is the difference between cement and pavement?” Jim added a cautious look from side to side for good measure, although he was pretty sure that Dwight had heard him and Pam talking about this not 30 seconds ago.

Dwight gave an exasperated sigh. “Cement is a binder, a substance which sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The name cement goes back to the Romans who used the term opus caementitium to describe masonry which resembled concrete and was made from crushed rock with burnt lime as binder. Pavement is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain traffic, whether vehicular or pedestrian. Such surfaces are frequently marked to guide traffic. D’uh” he added, as if everyone knew such details.

“Thanks. You’ve been a great help. I will never forget it.”

Jim turned back to Pam, only to see her covering her face and shaking from holding in the laughter. He gave her a second to calm down, and then asked, “Satisfied?”

“Those sounded almost exactly the same as the description on Wikipedia.”

Pam caught herself, but it was too late. “I thought you said you wanted me to find out?” Jim asked incredulously.

“Opps.” Was all she could say as she lowered her hand from her mouth.

“Get outta here Beesly. Next time, do your own dirty work.”

“Thank you.” She said as she ruffled his hair and skipped back over to reception. Pam’s boredom was gone, at least for a little while.