While managing the watermark crisis Michael tells the gang he's inviting Barbara Allen, one of Dunder Mifflin's oldest clients, to the office to deliver a personal apology. The client's name is a direct reference to Barbara Allen, a traditional Scottish ballad first mentioned in a diary entry by Samuel Pepys in 1666 which later traveled to America both orally and in print, where it became a popular folk song. Ethnomusicologists Steve Roud and Julia Bishop described it as "far and away the most widely collected song in the English language– equally popular in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and with hundreds of versions collected over the years in North America."
While on the phone with Pam just after the work day ends, Jim asks her how many words per minute the average person types. Pam replies that she types 90 WPM, and guesses the average person types 70 WPM. Jim replies that he types 65 WPM, which Pam calls "respectable". The average person types between 38 and 40 WPM, what translates into between 190 and 200 characters per minute (CPM).