The Worst Thing That Jerry Ever Did In Parks & Recreation
If you could be any character on "Parks and Recreation," who would you want to be?
Would you want to be chipper and productive Leslie (Amy Poehler)? Or how about Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), who always seems to manage to find a way to get out of doing actual work around the office? There are plenty of other excellent choices out there, but the one universal constant is that no one would likely choose to be Jerry (Jim O'Heir).
Sure, he may have a smoking hot wife and a loving home life, but he also consistently deals with his coworkers' disdain while working. Even when he does something noble like put off retirement when the office needs him, they still treat him poorly. Jerry's ineptitude and clumsiness make him a prime target for jokes, but people still find excuses to pile insults on top of him even when he hasn't done anything wrong yet. As such, it's easy to feel sorry for the guy even when considering the worst thing he ever did on the sitcom.
Jerry lied about falling into the creek
In Season 2, Episode 19, "Park Safety," Jerry's tasked with refilling the bird feeders in a park and winds up in the hospital. When Leslie goes to check on him, he tells her that he was mugged. As such, Leslie decides that people in the office shouldn't make fun of him, which is really hard to do. Eventually, after Leslie has already received additional funds to clean up the park, Jerry confides in her that he actually dropped his breakfast burrito in the creek and tripped while trying to get it.
The reason Jerry lied was that he was afraid everyone would make fun of him if they knew the truth. It's understandable, but his lie ended up taking on a life of its own. Plus, he put Leslie in a serious bind when she ended up getting blackmailed by a park security ranger. Jerry may have meant well, but as has been the lesson on countless TV shows in the past — lying doesn't pay.
Honestly, compared to some of the things other characters did on "Parks and Rec," a little white lie isn't that bad.