Office Romances -- Bad Idea or Just Common Sense? - from Em and Lo

Contributor: Em & Lo Em & Lo
We just wrote about the Top 10 Rules for Dipping Your Pen in the Company Inkwell to help ensure things go smoothly. But we know there's no foolproof plan. So we were wondering what the community consensus is on office romances -- almost always a bad idea or just common sense in a world where we work too much?
05/19/2010
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Contributor: Chilipepper Chilipepper
Think of it this way - IT'S GOING TO END SOMEDAY. And you STILL HAVE to work with them. Can you live with the awkwardness? It was damned uncomfortable when my work had to witness the break up of a cook and prep-cook; nobody wanted to pick sides and we all walked on eggs for about three months afterward when both worked the same shift.
05/19/2010
Contributor: Carrie Ann Carrie Ann
I worked with my first ex husband with no issues.

I worked with my current fiance and had nothing BUT issues.

All depends on the people involved, I think, as well as the job.

I'd never do it again, that's for sure!
05/19/2010
Contributor: Gary Gary
I think this is pretty much always a bad idea... but so is everything else that's fun!
05/19/2010
Contributor: Heather Heather
Carrie Ann is right. All depends on the people involved. I've had employees date and some didn't go well and one got married. The married couple are going strong now about 7 years but prior to him moving on to another job I did have to step in from time to time and remind them to leave the office at the office and leave the home at home. So from my side I have issues with it but do understand this is where you spend the better part of your day.
05/19/2010
Contributor: El-Jaro El-Jaro
My late uncle gave me a good piece of advice I'm sure most of you had heard:

Don't s#it where you eat and don't f&ck where you work.

I don't know about this one though. Maybe work at home is different now. We don't live together either.
05/19/2010
Contributor: Victoria Victoria
I personally am glad that my husband and I work for the same company - we can relate to each others work better. I think it's really hard for most people to grasp what either of us do for a living, so at least we have each other to commiserate with
05/19/2010
Contributor: Sammi Sammi
I've never had one, but I've seen them go both ways in offices where I've worked. A lot depends on the kind of work the two do, and how closely they work together.
05/19/2010
Contributor: Kim! Kim!
My boyfriend and I both work together. We both liked each other and spent some time thinking about it and getting to know each other before we made a move. I honestly wasn't sure if he liked me or not and he wasn't sure if I liked him, that's how subtle we were. I figured this is just a "for now" place for both of us and therefore I am fine with dating him. Neither one of us is planning on staying there, he's planning on grad school at some point and I am currently in school. If it was my career I might reconsider. However down the road if we ended up at the same place after having a very stable relationship that could handle it I would be okay with it. The odds of that probably aren't too high since he was a History major and I'm Media Study though.
07/05/2010
Contributor: Alicia Alicia
My husband and I work together, but we didn't meet working at the same place. So, I guess it was a bit different since we didn't have to worry about breaking up and still having to deal with each other at work.
07/05/2010
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
My fiance and I used to work for a property maintenance company. For a while we would get up together, ride to work together, cut lawns all day together, do whatever social activity we could together, go to bed together, and do it all over again the next day. The only time we didn't spend together was when I was at my night job. We had no problems with that.

However right now, even though we're at the same company, we're at different stores, and we would definitely have problems with working at the same store on a consistent basis here.
07/12/2010
Contributor: fatesrelease fatesrelease
I've never dealt with this but I imagine some people might get tired of it quickly. You don't have time away from your partner and you can't share anything new about your day because they already experienced it with you. Also, if things don't turn out well I'd feel awkward about it.
07/13/2010
Contributor: Tori Rebel Tori Rebel
I know a lot of situations where this has worked well, but others where it has crashed and burned. As always, it just depends on the people involved. The only time I see it almost consistently go south is when it's a boss/employee thing. That can get very dicey very easily.
07/13/2010
Contributor: bobowaxer bobowaxer
In general, it's most likely a bad idea (for obvious reasons). However, if there is a strong mutual attraction, common sense will usually "call in sick".
03/10/2011
Contributor: gone77 gone77
Quote:
Originally posted by bobowaxer
In general, it's most likely a bad idea (for obvious reasons). However, if there is a strong mutual attraction, common sense will usually "call in sick".
Ha! This, yes.
03/10/2011
Contributor: zeebot zeebot
I try really hard to avoid getting together with co-workers and roommates. Sometimes it can work, but most of the time I don't think it's worth the potential horrible consequences.
03/10/2011
Contributor: Curves Curves
usually ends bad..
04/03/2011
Contributor: nicole07 nicole07
it will end bad
04/07/2011