I was watching the The Office (US version) one day, and I realized how much office romance goes on in that show. I knew it’s a fictional TV show, but that show was a social commentary on what goes on at today’s offices. I also read an article saying that about 40% of the workers had an office romance.

After college, single people have limited options on finding a date. They spend most of their time at work and less time on learning how to do social media, digital marketing and other self promotional strategies the right way. So it’s logical that people find their love at their workplace. Is that a good idea? Most of the time, the answer is no.

First of all, you can actually meet people outside of work if you try. You can join classes, take up hobbies, try online dating, go to bars/night clubs, go to a gym, go to parties, go to bookstores/malls, go to church/temple, ask your friends to hook you up, etc. There are a lot of options. You just have to get off your ass, go out, and meet people.

I know it’s convenient to meet people at your workplace. I mean, you’re already there. And I’m sure that there are a lot of cute people walking around at your work. Maybe you even know some of them.

There’s a saying, “don’t shit where you eat.” And your workplace is a place where you don’t want to do that. What would happen if your relationship gets hairy? This can mean break ups, fights, and typical relationship dramas. This just creates more stress for your job. Why would anyone want more stress at their job?

Office romance might also be against the company policies. If it is, you would need to go through the trouble of keeping the relationship a secret. It might be against your company’s sexual harassment policies as well. If a co-worker finds your PDA offensive, then you guys are in trouble. Not only that, if your relationship doesn’t work out you might have a sexual harassment charge from your ex-office lover.

Also, if you have a relationship with your boss or your subordinate, things can get messy with your co-workers. Jealousy, gossiping, low morale and others negative things would hinder your job performance.

I’m sure that person in the office is very attractive and you two have awesome chemistry. But you should try hard not to progress it further. Just keep it to innocent flirting. Nothing should come out of it. But what if that person is your soul-mate? Well, there are a billion more people out there. The chances are, you’re capable of finding another “soul-mate” of yours outside of work.

The only time an office romance could work is when the other person is at a different department—as far away from your department as possible. That way your jobs won’t affect each other. So if your relationship does get hairy, it won’t have an immediate effect on your job.

Also, if both of you can keep the professional side and the personal side completely separate, the relationship might work. But we’re all human, and this would be hard to do.

If the relationship does work out, then that’s fine. This means that you guys eventually get married and live happily ever after. But this is something you have to be sure of. You have to think hard about it. You need to make the decision more from your logic than from your emotions.

Overall, the chances are against you for office romances. Find your soul-mate outside of work. There are a lot of great people out there that’s not working at your job.