Parks and Recreation is so lovable due to its cast of quirky characters. Among Leslie, Ron, Donna, Ann, Andy, April, Tom, and Jerry — we have a ton of funny (and uncomfortable) moments to ogle at. And while we're inspired by Leslie's drive to the top of politics and Ron's need for non-conforming, there's one character that seems to rub everyone the wrong way: Tom Haverford.
Born in South Carolina, Haverford doesn't have the stereotypical Southern charm that most Southern gentlemen have. Instead, he comes off as misogynistic, vein, egotistical, and full of himself. Thankfully, we do see Tom grow and mature over the course of seven seasons, but it took plenty of mishaps and blunders to get him to that point.
We all love the crew over in the Parks Department and are thankful Tom finally grew into a respectable human being, but today's not about his redeemable qualities — it's about his most annoying moments proving he's the worst.
HIT ON ANN PERKINS IN A TOWN MEETING
In the first episode of the first season, Leslie and Tom run a town hall meeting to get into the heads of the people. This is when Leslie meets her best friend Ann for the first time. This is also where Tom meets Ann, in which he thought was the perfect time to hit on her in a public forum.
Not only was he incredibly unprofessional, but it made Ann totally uncomfortable. And let's not forget that's when we found out Tom was married... If Tom wants to be a pig on his own time, that's fine – but to bring his love life into his work life was just unprofessional.
HIS FRIENDS ARE EVEN WORSE THAN HE IS
Jean Ralphio: you either love or hate him. The best friend of Tom, these two are best buddies who use each other as soundboards. Even though most of their "get rich quick" schemes are garbage, I do appreciate how these two believe in one another wholeheartedly. The only problem is these two are horrible for each other's egos. They're both money-, girl-, and attention-hungry — so these two were bound to lock horns at some point.
LEAVES HIS CO-WORKERS IN THE FACE OF DANGER ALL THE TIME
There are multiple times we see Tom being a bad friend. Now, I'm not saying he has no good qualities and doesn't care for his friends, but there are numerous times throughout the seven seasons where he runs away from his friends when they're in need. The first instance of this is when Leslie is throwing an Easter egg hunt for Pawnee.
She is looking throughout the park with the children for Easter eggs, however, none are turning up. As we find out, it was Tom's job to hide the eggs and he never did. This was only one instance. Another instance is when Leslie finds that teens are stealing dog bags filled with their feces and throwing them at each other. When they start throwing the bags at Leslie and Tom, Leslie asks for help while Tom runs for the car. The same thing happens when there's a loose possum on the local golf course!
HE TOOK OVER BEN'S BACHELOR PARTY
When Ann and Chris become in charge of Leslie and Ben's respective bachelor and bachelorette parties, Leslie opts for a crazier party while Ben wants something lowkey. All Ben wanted was to play board games and drink beer with his best buddies from work. And while it looked a little lame, it's what Ben wanted — he was happy! However, Tom, of course, couldn't handle the mundane lifestyle and decided to take the guys to Essence — a new bar that specialized in cool drinks. The bar, however, wasn't what anyone enjoyed besides Tom. Ron especially was miserable. Thankfully, it was at this point that the men realized none of them had bachelor parties so it turned into all of them taking turns, but it would have never been that way without Tom's annoying boredom.
HE TALKS ABOUT HIS BUSINESS INSTEAD OF SUPPORTING LESLIE
In an episode called "Meet 'N' Greet," Leslie was running for local election, and in an effort to get in contact with local businesses, she had Tom introduce her and her efforts. The only problem, however, is that Tom saw this as an opportunity to promote his own business venture called Entertainment 7Twenty. Leslie—along with everyone in the audience—was utterly confused.
This night was supposed to be dedicated to Leslie and her hope at winning the election, and instead, it turned into Tom supporting Tom. Considering how much Leslie does for her colleagues and Pawnee, she never deserved that.
DOES HE EVER ACTUALLY DO HIS JOB?
Working as Leslie's subordinate, what was Tom's actual job title? Known as her "righthand man," did Tom really do everything in his power to lift and support Leslie? On the contrary, he pulled her down. In earlier episodes of Parks and Recreation, Leslie asked Tom to write down her thoughts when she had a good idea. When Tom showed the camera her thoughts, they were just a bunch of scribble lines. So if he's not helping Leslie remember her brilliants ideas, what was he doing? Oh yeah, playing Words With Friends and creating his own empire while getting paid as a government employee.
HIS 'OH-NO-NO's' LIST
We all know Tom Haverford has his own vocabulary for certain words but he also had a Oh-No-No's list. It was a list of rules that women couldn't break if they were oh so lucky to date him, along with things he just expected for himself.
He needed 800-thread count sheets, his dates had to be familiar with Paul Waker, they had to support his hobbies, and the list goes on and on. It's not unrealistic that Tom has a list of requirements for these women, but he seems super strict for someone who doesn't get ladies often.
HE SHOT RON IN THE HEAD
Ron Swanson is the kind of man who calls it as he sees it. If he's not a fan of something, he either vocalizes or does everything he can to escape the situation. And although his colleagues bother him at times, he'll always defend his team, which is why he didn't deserve to be shot in the head!
In an episode titled "Hunting Trip," Ron is shot in the head while competing with Leslie. So, who shot Ron? Well, Leslie took the rap for the shot although it was really Tom who accidentally shot him. Not having his hunting license, Tom could have had a huge penalty fine to pay along with a dead man on his hands!
Tom finally comes clean, saying he's the one who shot Ron but Ron is more impressed with Leslie for taking the heat. Nice going, Tom...
HE GOES OUT WITH RON'S EX-WIFE
As we all know, Ron had three wives over the course of seven seasons. Divorced from Tammy 1 and Tammy 2, Ron finally finds love with Diane (a non-Tammy). However, while Ron was single and dating around before meeting Diane, he found happiness with Wendy Haverford, Tom's ex-wife. In an attempt to hurt Ron, he decided to go after Tammy 2. This just proved how immature and desperate Tom really was. Instead of going to Ron and explaining how he wasn't comfortable with the two of them dating, he went after someone he knew Ron would be upset over.
HE SLEEPS WITH HIS EMPLOYEES
We all know that Tom eventually found love with Lucy (who seems to love his quirks and annoying personality) but before Lucy, there was Mona-Lisa Saperstein. Not only was he dating his best friend's sister (which is a huge no-no), the only reason they started dating is because he hired her as his employee.
Not only was she a horrendous worker but she slept with him because he almost fired her. Their toxic relationship lasted longer than anyone really cared for and the fact that he was sleeping with an employee while trying to be a professional businessman was a huge red flag.