Picture this: you’re calmly at work, minding your own business when suddenly you spot a new face. “Wow, they’re so beautiful,” you think to yourself, completely lost in their dreamy, slow-motion walk. Snap back to reality, and let me tell you what’s going on: you’ve got a crush on your co-worker.
How does one deal with this? It’s especially hard I’d say given that in high school it’s pretty normal to have a crush on your classmate, someone you see every day and have to spend an excessive amount of time with. However, I’d say that a work crush is entirely different because there’s a new layer of pressure on co-worker relationships which depends on how “chill” your work environment is and what your ranks in the office are.
To be honest, I’ve got this crazy work crush and I’m not sure how to handle it. So, as usual, I looked up advice from other people and asked my friends what I should do about it, because it’s clearly not going away anytime soon.
“If there’s one rule we all know, it’s that the worst thing you can do is have a crush on a coworker – and a fling. But that’s easier said than done,” is the first piece of advice I obtained from LovePanky, a website on Love and Relationships. Well… yikes. I’d say that is definitely true, the disparity in power dynamics within a workplace environment and adding onto that the pressure of a crush, relationship or casual sex is a lot to handle. It can spiral out of control very quickly, and the worst case scenario is ultimately losing your job, which is something to keep in mind.
The second piece of advice is not to talk about it with your co-workers (a mistake I’m majorly guilty of). This, in my opinion, is important because other people will find out and most likely your crush will. If this is relevant to you, do not tell other people you work with. However, if I’m playing devil’s advocate, it can be useful to tell a few trusted people at work because if you’re interested in pursuing your work crush you can find out important details about them such as their previous affairs, if they’re single, or if they’re into you.
As for crushes that turn into flings or relationships, sometimes office crushes can turn into lifelong marriages and this isn’t rare. Unfortunately, more often than not, they are temporary flings and turn messy. Besides it’s all too common for people to have ‘office affairs’ where they leave the office and go home to their family or partner.
“According to the infidelity dating site Ashley Madison, a survey showed that 32% of respondents have had an office affair, and 37% said there is someone at work who they want to have an affair with.”
With all this in mind… I’m going to keep my work crush and ignore all of this advice completely, but I hope that you are smarter than me and choose not to find a partner or a fling within your workplace. It’ll definitely get messy so I will keep you updated, fellow readers.