Randall Smith, “Dante and the Office” (2026)

“Some people have trouble reading Dante’s Commedia.  For a ‘comedy,’ it doesn’t seem all that funny. Teachers will tell you it is a ‘comedy’ in the sense that it has a happy ending in Heaven.  Some people might chuckle at some of the punishments Dante envisions for certain souls in the Inferno, but others would consider this callous. Who would be so heartless as to laugh at the misfortune of others? It’s so medieval.  And yet, I wonder whether we are as self-aware as we often assume.

“Let’s say you were in Dante’s place, and you were trekking with your guide through the Inferno. You happen upon a dark space illuminated solely by a dull blue glow.  As your eyes get accustomed to the dim light, you realize that the dull blue glow is radiating from box-shaped computer monitors, each of which is sitting on top of what looks like a combination human body and old telephone operator’s plug board, with wires running in and out of various holes. 

“’Where are we?’ you ask your spirit guide, Mike Judge, writer and director of the movie Office Space.  ‘This is the dark valley where pitiless, unhelpful IT technicians and bureaucrats go who have not repented for their crimes against humanity.’  At that moment, you hear voices saying to each poor soul as he tries to put the right plug into the right hole to ‘connect’ his system: ‘I’m sorry, sir, but the system is currently unavailable.’ Or ‘We’re sorry, but you don’t have the correct software to connect to that port.’  Now, be honest. Tell me there wouldn’t be part of you that would have to stifle a chuckle.”    —The Catholic Thing (May 26, 2026)