Don’t dip your pen in company ink.

Don’t $hit where you eat.

Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water….  wait… that last one didn’t make any sense.

Everyone says that it is a terrible idea to date a co-worker.  Obvious reasons include if they go psycho on you, you have no where to hide.  Maybe it’ll change the work dynamic and make it terribly awkward for you and the rest of the office.

It could also end up putting your ‘feel goods’ in a vice if one of you gets promoted and has to deal with not only who wears the pants in the relationship, but now the office as well.

Even though it’s frowned upon, it happens all the time.  Spending hours upon hours a day with someone that you’re even mildly attracted to can make your mind wander to that dirty gutter that flows so freely.

If you do decide to venture down this much traveled path, just remember a few things:

Keep it discreet – Don’t be Ron Burgandy from Anchorman — Ron: Veronica Corningstone and I had sex, and now we are in LOVE!!  Did I say that loud?  Friend: Yeah, you pretty much yelled it.

Don’t be together at work - No one wants to be the third wheel… especially at work.  Keep your hands to yourself and keep the love notes and emails to a minimum.  Companies have the ability to monitor everything from phone calls to emails.

Keep your co-workers out of it – Having an issue because she won’t let you play golf this weekend?  Don’t air it out on your cube-mate.  The last thing you want is gossip, lies, and the entire water cooler talk to be about your relationship.  Talk to your non-work friends for advice.

If it ends, be mature – Don’t mold her stapler in Jello or fill her cube with styrofoam peanuts.  Act like it didn’t happen and get over it quickly.  Keying her car in the parking lot isn’t going to make her love you, so walk away…. just… walk away.

You’re at WORK - Focus… you can’t pay the bills by flirting your day away (I’ll leave any responses to this for another blog).

It’s such a natural progression that it’s something that it’s a bridge that everyone crosses at some point.

Regardless what people tell you, this is always going to occur, so just be careful if you do it.  Who knows, if all goes well, you guys could be the next Pam and Jim from the Office!