Comments on: Best of The Dark Side: Rules for Office Romance

By: Mike Corlett

Mike Corlett — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:53:35 +0000

Success story: A girl in our office had been planning her wedding for *months*. A few weeks before, I became aware that a male colleague was also getting married. It was only when the collection came around I realised they were marrying each other!

Up until then I would have said they hardly new one another….

By: David Christiansen

David Christiansen — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:04:22 +0000

1) Okay. I’ll buy that. It makes me feel kind of icky for some reason, but I’ll accept it as true enough. :->

2) Hmm… I hadn’t thought of it that way. I guess if you’re one of those people who are extremely good at being “just friends” once a relationship goes south this might be true.

3) He grabbed her butt. He got punted. She got promoted.

4) I will grant you that. But I still think DJ1.0′s chart is funnier.

By: Dennis Gorelik

Dennis Gorelik — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:22:18 +0000

1) I’m not saying that there are many opportunities to improve one’s career by using dating opportunities, but there are some.

2) Having unofficial relationships usually help to improve official relationships. That’s why corporations sponsor corporate parties.
Dating — is one form of unofficial relationships.

3) What did your coworker report that caused firing another coworker? They both went on date, so it would be reasonable to either keep both of them or fire both of them.

4) I’m not saying that work is the best environment for seeking a date / marriage. I’m just saying that’s one of the options, which shouldn’t be arbitrary ignored.

By: David Christiansen

David Christiansen — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:41:53 +0000

I’m not sure that there are very many dating opportunities at work that are also helpful to one’s career, but if you say there are I’ll believe you. I just don’t think it’s useful as a general rule – it seems more likely to be a rare exception.

To be honest, I dated a co-worker when I was fresh out of school. For a so-called work romance, it was pretty tame – it wouldn’t even have made it as a subplot for a really bad daytime soap. Interestingly enough, we both quit a few months later.

One of my co-workers recently married another of my co-workers, and there haven’t been any repercussions BUT they were incredibly discreet. No one, not even their best friends, knew they were dating until they announced their engagement. It was the most well-run covert dating operation I’ve ever seen. Most people can’t pull that off.

Another of my co-workers got fired after a “date” with one of our colleagues. He thought there was interest, but was wrong. She reported him to HR and we never saw him again after their off-site “date.”

I’m with freak3dot. Glad I’m not single anymore.

By: Aaron Hodder

Aaron Hodder — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 05:13:45 +0000

I work at the same place as my wife…

Seems to be all right. Maybe different strokes for different organisations…

By: Dennis Gorelik

Dennis Gorelik — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 01:13:52 +0000

Do you think that “having good time + getting additional chance of finding spouse + getting a chance to speed up your career” doesn’t worth some risk of getting complications at work?
“Just don’t do it” – is a safe, but not necessarily good answer.

By: freak3dot

freak3dot — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 13:23:58 +0000

Hey no fair. That is the same picture you used in the exploritory testing slide show.

You are totally right though. I have dated two co-workers. It may all go well without any problems at work for a while. But there will be a point where you can not keep it out of the workplace. This is usually at break up or where the other person decides they are not interested and doesn’t bother to tell you.

There was also this interesting thing about one thinking that she was treated poorly at work. In trying to keep it out of the work place, she felt pushed away which would be acurate.

The chart that was all No got me to lol.

So glad I am married now,
freak3dot