"Business or pleasure?"

Once we enter the workforce, we find ourselves in a new environment where we are potentially spending more than forty hours a week. We suddenly begin to see the faces of our coworkers just as much, if not more, than our family and friends. What happens when we find ourselves growing fond of these faces and are no longer content with just seeing them within the four walls of our workplace?

I'm sure there are countless stories where two coworkers date, fall in love, get married, have children, and live happily ever after; the end. But what about the opposite end of that spectrum? Where two employees attempt to date and crash and burn in the process. I have recently found myself in this gut-wrenching situation, to date or not to date a coworker.

While I knew that this guy wasn't going to be the person I would spend the rest of my life with, a part of me was simply curious on the ins and outs of dating in the workplace. After about a month of flirting, I succumbed to my curiosity and went out for drinks and appetizers with my coworker. Seeing each other outside of work was exciting due to the simple fact that the pressure of work was gone for those few hours. We had a chance to actually get to know one another. After a few more casual cocktails on separate occasions, I began to question if I was capable of mixing business with pleasure. I was beginning to find myself carefully calculating what I would say to my other coworkers when they asked me what I did over the weekend, as to not slip and say, "I went out with Rich."

"What does it matter if they know we're dating?" This thought was the turning point for me. There is always a fork in the road when it comes to dating, to let the relationship blossom or to sever all ties. Unfortunately, when you work with someone, you're incapable of completely cutting off all communication. I realized that he wanted to continue this and I cared more about my job. It wasn't even that Rich was a terrible guy, in fact, I enjoyed spending time with him but I could not separate seeing him in my personal life and then trying to act professional towards him.

For me, I realized that the saying goes "business OR pleasure" for a reason. At least for right now, I could not mix both business and pleasure.