Call The Office rex (The Sunday Read)

9/27/2026

Call The Office rex (The Sunday Read)

Today you get a short documentary and a rex story.

The Set Up

I went to law school at what is called Western University in London, Ontario and I came back to Wïndsor in 1980 to practice law.

In the 80’s a London dive bar became a beacon for up and coming punk and post- punk bands.

Unfortunately, it has been shuddered since the pandemic and is awaiting a redo.

The Story

Fast forward to the late 80’s. I am in London doing an arbitration for a large national employer in the delivery business.

My client alleged (and had excellent video evidence) that a unionized delivery employee was frequently leaving his delivery route and visiting… you guessed it- Call The Office.

They had terminated his employment as a result and the case was being arbitrated.

His “hangout” was doubly ironic given what it was alleged the employee was doing… as was hiding from the “office.” It was also clear that in going there mid afternoon on weekdays he was more in search of pilsner than post– punk.

Now, the arbitrator assigned to decide this dispute was legendary in political and legal circles. However, he was then in his late 80’s, having been born a few years before WWI commenced.

As the evidence proceeded, witnesses kept referring to “Call The Office”. Every single time that happened, the arbitrator pivoted towards the door as he believed someone had come to our hearing room and was telling him to call his office!!!

Bless his soul, but you can’t make this up.

Despite our repeated efforts to explain what “Call The Office” meant in the context of the case the arbitrator simply couldn’t comprehend that was the name of the establishment! (I think it was his inability to imagine that someone would give an establishment a unique name.)

Eventually the Union lawyer and I asked for a break and went to the hallway. After we stopped chuckling and shaking our heads, we agreed we could each “coach” our witnesses to just refer to it as “The Bar.” It worked and we were able to proceed…

The mini- doc

Anyway, while I never went to see a band play Call The Office, I recently saw this short video and it brought back pleasant memories of a day when the practice of law descended into the theatre of the absurd.

Have a watch.

https://m.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEA&search_query=Call+the+office&ra=m

The Song

For today’s song I have selected the most prominent outfit to have ever played Call The Office. They also meet the criteria of being in my collection. While I like this band I am , surprisingly to many, not a huge fan. That is why this is the first time they have been posted to gwrexu/g365

Amazingly, the RADIOHEAD 🇬🇧 played this dive bar in 1995.

I have an aces box set of their most well-known LP- “OK Computer”.