Work Love?

This morning I was driving to work and the radio station I listen to has a contest every morning about a stat that the dj found. The stat today was what bugs an employer the most about employees? One person guessed co-workers dating. That wasn't the top reason, but it was number 4 on the list. It got me thinking about it...is it okay to date where you work?

I work in a place that is prodominantly men. Women are catching up, but it is mostly men. It is a high stress job with odd hours, so sometimes, people like to date those that understand that kind of life. There is a lot of dating and mingling that goes on in this business. It doesn't matter where a person works, it is just the nature of the business. On the other hand, in any big business, you probably have a lot of dating coworkers and mingling going on.

I have a friend that says, absolutely not. No way should you date coworkers...you don't shit where you eat so to speak. There are others that say, absolutely, I only date those that I work with. We understand each other.

As with any dating, there have to be ground rules. You have to have a mutual respect. If it ends, you have to be able get past that hurt and still be able to do your job. Because you work together, you are going to know right away if the other person starts dating other people and you have to be able to get past that. You have to be able to deal with the talk. Let's face it, people talk and it's not always accurate.

You have to be able to separate your personal life from your professional life. I mean really, who wants to go home and talk shop for 4 hrs after you just spent 8 or 10 hrs at work. You have to say, okay, we each get 15 minutes (or whatever you decide) to talk about our work day and then we are done talking about work. By the same token, you can't bring your personal stuff to the office. Your coworkers don't want to hear you fight, be in the middle of a fight or hear about anything else that goes on unless it's the typical stuff they would talk about. I mean, your coworkers have to work with both of you...not a good idea to be sharing secrets about each other!

I definitely think it's possible to date where you work. I know a lot of people that are married and work together and it works well. You just have to know the rules and stick to them.