Basic Trope: An eager employee is asked by their boss to do a menial task, such as getting him coffee.
- Straight: Boss Jim asks Bob to go get him some coffee.
- Exaggerated: Bob's only job is getting Jim coffee and he might as well just be called "servant" or "slave" instead of whatever his job title is.
- Downplayed:
- Bob happily gets Jim coffee, knowing it will eventually lead to better assignments and greater things.
- A lot of Jim's orders to Bob are ended with "and while you're at it, get me coffee".
- Jim gives Bob a task that, while it sounds important, is mainly given so that Jim can get Bob out of his hair for a while.
- Jim has his corporate Vice President Bob delegate his coffee orders to a lower subordinate.
- Grabbing coffee is a short lived Punishment Detail.
- Justified:
- Bob is an intern who does this sort of thing as part of his main job duties; he knows that if he does a good job of showing that he's capable and willing, he'll eventually get better work.
- Bob's boss is rich enough to hire an employee dedicated entirely to fetching coffee.
- Jim isn't at ease until he's had his morning coffee — and when the boss isn't happy, nobody's happy.
- It's a Secret Test of Character. Bob's eventual job involves a lot of patience and care. If he's sloppy or slow with something as little as coffee, he's not going to do well.
- Bob is training at a meal delivery firm, and fetching coffee is his job on a smaller scale.
- Jim has Bob fetch everyone coffee to encourage teamwork and camaraderie.
- Jim has a few tasks too many of his own and Bob's main task has him pass the cafeteria and pass Jim's office again.
- Inverted:
- Jim is always fetching his employees coffee, either because they run all over him, or because he believes that doing this personally is the best way to keep them happy and productive.
- Bob always has coffee ready and close at hand for Jim without having to be asked, to the point that Jim finds it a little creepy.
- Pass The Coffee, where Bob asks if Jim wants some coffee during a heated debate, or in moments where there's pretty much nothing to do.
- Subverted:
- Bob is not only Jim's coffee-servant; he likes being it and wouldn't change it for anything.
- Getting Jim's coffee is a difficult task that requires a lot of skill, and fetching it brings a lot of prestige.
- Bob is Jim's personal assassin. The coffee-guy cover is a way of remaining Beneath Notice; it gives him a convenient excuse to move around the building, talk to Jim at any time, and get paid under the table.
- Double Subverted:
- ...but only because he thinks he's actually doing top-secret government work and doesn't understand the true nature of his position.
- ...or at least, that's what Jim tells Bob to motivate him.
- ...but Bob also makes coffee.
- Parodied:
- Bob is sent on a series of coffee-fetching type tasks in increasingly bizarre locations, accompanied by a laugh track.
- Bob's co-workers are so addicted to coffee that Bob is able to basically run the company by supplying it.
- Zig Zagged: Whether Bob is just a coffee-fetcher or actually given meaningful work seems to zig-zag from day-to-day.
- Averted: Bob is given meaningful work right from the get-go and never has to do this type of servant stuff.
- Enforced: The show's an office comedy and needs an office butt-monkey for laughs.
- Lampshaded: Bob is given the nickname "Mr. Coffee Guy."
- Invoked: Bob was chosen for this because the company can't afford any more positions of importance, but they want to groom him for one when an opening becomes available.
- Exploited: Bob's fellow office-workers start treating him in this way too.
- Defied: Bob blows off these busy-work tasks, does a half-assed job, or gets someone else to do them, but manages to take all the credit.
- Discussed: "Hey, Bob, don't you ever think maybe it's time you asked for some real work? Can't keep being Mr. Coffee Guy forever."
- Conversed: "Say, that Bob's a pretty cool character, it would be nice if they gave him something else to do other than just being his boss's coffee-fetcher."
- Deconstructed:
- Bob becomes increasingly frustrated as he's sent on more and more coffee-fetching tasks and decides to quit his job.
- Working for Jim looks good on Bob's resume, but the fact that Bob was only ever trusted with menial tasks means that he's totally unprepared when the time comes for him to take on actual responsibilities.
- Bob has been used to fetch coffee for so long as a way of teaching him his place that he loses the skills for which he was originally hired, so when Bob is actually needed, he's of little use.
- Reconstructed: Bob comes to realize that in a way he was actually at his happiest because he was so good at the coffee-fetching and decides to go back to it.
- Played For Laughs: It's a comedic spy program and the whole coffee-fetching thing is cover for secret missions. Coffee orders are Spy Speak, for example, the type of coffee specifies the mission and the number of sugars defines specific parameters.
- Played For Drama: Jim's company is losing work. There isn't as much work to go around, so he's trying to prevent layoffs by giving employees menial tasks.
You get me the main entry. And make it snappy! And no pickles!
