Dating in the Office

Ah, the classic no-no that so many of us can’t seem to resist.  No, I’m not talking about online speed dating or even absolutely free online dating.  What I mean is, after all, the close proximity, the late hours, the high tension, the shared laugh over an afternoon cup of coffee … falling for a colleague is a tune we all know well.  Is it really such a bad idea?  After all, it could make work much more enjoyable.  We’ve all heard the urban relationship myths about the couple that were working together, and created both a relationship and a business from their clandestine love?

First off, we can write off sleeping with the boss to get ahead.

Under no circumstances is that acceptable … unless your boss is Hugh Grant, in which case, go for it, Bridget.  She’ll end up with Mr. Darcy, anyway.  Although it did seem that the moral of that story was sleep with whomever will sleep with you, and ye shall be validated as a woman.  She might have had the same luck with UK online dating herself.  I know a few women who seem to take that approach to no avail.  So, yes, we will write that one off.

How about a junior?  We all know that a struggling artist who has taken on an office junior job to pay the bills, with that air of rebellion and dark mystery, can be practically irresistible; almost as irresistible as a big fat sexual harassment payout to a struggling artist who needs to pay the bills.

As for a colleague of similar standing, never forget that – although the idea of seeing your love lust on a daily basis may seem appealing at first – if things go badly, you will still have to see them on a daily basis.  Every day, unless you plan to quit.

So let’s just say, don’t date in the office, unless it’s a really, really, really big, preferably internationally-based office.  And then it’s probably still preferable to turn to international dating first; you’ve got Korean online dating, Chinese dating, Russian dating sites, even Latino online dating.  Or if you want to get crazy, there’s even Christian singles online dating.