Service Industry Problems: Is Fooling Around With A Co-Worker Taboo?

It happens very often in our line of work. It is inevitable really. Sooner or later you end up shitting where you eat. It isn’t so much out of want, but more or less necessity. Anyone who has ever worked in the service industry would agree; no matter who you are you eventually shack up with a co-worker.

Now, most people always say you should never mess around in the workplace. However, the service industry manages to remain an exception to that rule. Once you start working in the restaurant business you quickly learn your previous life outside of the business becomes extinct; a fossilized life. You slowly begin to adapt to your new life. You realize you’re suddenly a night owl, possible alcoholic, and your only friends happen to double as your co-workers. To be fair it is a subtle process, but by the time you realize it all you’re already in too deep – you’re living the service industry lifestyle now.

With the new found territory comes the misunderstanding from the rest of the non-service professionals out there. For singles it can be tough to meet that ‘someone’ because your chaotic schedule matches well with damn near no one outside the restaurant business.  The truth is the only people who actually get you and magically have the same hellish schedule are your partners in crime at work.

It’s the nature of the beast. We all work long hours and we all share in the same daily sacrifices. We all end up living an isolated life from the rest of the world; we don’t have weekends off and we typically work most holidays – so naturally, when a shift ends and your normal friends are already in their cozy beds what are you to do? You end up hitting up the local watering hole with your fellow co-workers.

What happens next is essentially the combination of a multitude of social tendencies coming together for a perfect storm. The desire to seek companionship, even just understanding/coping with the lifestyle, is tackled by the flirtatious relationships previously established in the workplace. Sprinkle on some sharing of nightmare nights at work, toss in the post-work drinking (it’s 5 o’clock somewhere), and next thing you know some lines get crossed and bing-bang-boom you’re hooking-up with a co-worker.

To be fair, most would cringe at the thought, but unlike an office-sharing romping there is unique attribute to the hook-ups found in our line of work. It’s due largely due to the commonness of it; hook-ups and work relationships are understood in our profession. To be frank, it is as frequent in our industry as the dinner rush. If you’re around an attractive person long enough eventually hormones and the desire for companionship (regardless of a designated length of time) will run their course. Granted the process is enhanced in our industry due to the fact your social life is your work life. There’s no break from it – no pause button – it is only natural to sleep around in the workplace.

Interestingly enough, most of the time relationships are formed out of these post-work venting and sexing sessions. After all, the only people in your life who understand your schedule, your daily routine, and the ones you most often see you are your mates at work. It is the classic case of convenience trumps compromise and it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. To most normal people it’s called shitting where you eat; for us it is merely a Sunday Funday.