People say dating someone at work is as bad an idea as riding a bike without a helmet, or running with scissors.

The thing is, they give this advice out of habit rather than experience. But I have the experience, and I’m here to tell you – they’re right.

I’ve found romance at most of the jobs I’ve had. Most of the time it was harmless flirting, and constant rejection on my part. However, many times it became more.

The first time was at a mall in San Francisco where a co-worker began stalking me.

He’d walk (but really follow) me home, and try and change his shifts to mine. He’d buy me weird creepy matching “Twilight” jewelry, and try and bring me home to meet his parents.

The poor kid couldn’t take a hint, and I finally quit.

The second time, a boyfriend secretly got a job where I worked to surprise me. It was cute for a few weeks until we broke up, and I had to see his face every day. We didn’t work in the same section, but he would make a point to see me.

Recently, I made the terrible decision to sleep with a guy who worked at my old office job. I figured we were both adults, and could handle the situation maturely. I was so wrong.

Things were fine until he started bragging about us to co-workers, who in turn make working there awkward. It became worse when I found out he’d had a relationships with our co-worker that didn’t end well.

I was getting close to moving on to another job anyways when I decided to end it. Too many people knew, and he was getting a bit creepy. I tried to break it to him gently, but it didn’t go as smoothly as I planned. My remaining time there was terrible. He got back at me by sending awkward emails on “accident”, shooting down my ideas for projects out of spite and shooting me some awesome dirty looks.

The moral of the story: Sleeping with a co-worker sounds like a bad idea because it is. That being said, I’ve seen it work a few times. However, that was because those involved didn’t hide it, or they worked different shifts or in different areas and didn’t interact much at work.

If you are considering an inter-office romance, prepare yourself for both good and bad outcomes. Who knows – maybe you’ll find love. If not, be prepared for the post-hookup fallout to make your workplace life a living hell.