There's a reason why people buy red staplers, Dwight Schrute bobbleheads and stuffed Dilberts: It's because many Americans are disenchanted with their jobs, and those items - pop culture icons that symbolize the worst in office culture - affirm that others view the workplace with the same disregard.

"I think it helps people to know they are not alone in their frustrations," said Scott Adams, who created his "Dilbert" comic strip nearly two decades ago.

In a sense, pop culture has become therapeutic for the disheartened American worker. And while many books (think anything by Kafka) and movies ("Fight Club") have dealt with jobs that can suck the life out of employees, three sources have stood out as the ultimate symbols for everything wrong about the office: "Dilbert"; the movie "Office Space"; and the TV show "The Office," now in its fifth season.

"Dilbert," of course, started it all. In 1989, Adams debuted his strip about an engineer who deals daily with the frustrations of his workplace. It was a huge success, prompting readers to buy stuffed dolls, calendars and books.

"People like to see me mock the things they can't mock themselves without losing their job," Adams said in an e-mail interview. "I am sort of a surrogate voice for them."

"Office Space," a cult favorite from 1999, features a trio of software employees trying to fight back against impending layoffs and a numbing office environment.

As film critic Roger Ebert wrote, the movie is about work that crushes the spirit: "Office cubicles are cells, supervisors are the wardens, and modern management theory is skewed to employ as many managers and as few workers as possible."

That "The Office" started out as a British TV show suggests that the view of the office as a dysfunctional family is not merely an American perception. The U. S. version of this sitcom takes place in a Pennsylvania paper company, where workers confront the boss's boneheaded decisions - and the awkward scenarios they foster - on a daily basis.

As bad as popular culture makes it seem, though, the American office really isn't so horrible, said John Gannon, a Pismo Beach, Calif., psychologist who often deals with work issues.

"Ninety percent of American business is doing what you need to do every day, and it's working pretty well," he said.

Still, he added, when people talk about their jobs the worst normally comes out, offering a distorted view.

"If somebody is going to talk about their experience at work, they're likely to select negative or dramatic experiences because no one's interested in hearing, 'I went to work yesterday, and it was nice."'

Still, the small frustrations at the office are often seen as a microcosm for what's wrong with the business world, which is currently getting bad reviews with news about outsourcing, bank collapses and high CEO salaries.