It’s a common saying that you shouldn’t mix business with pleasure… but what happens if you do? I spoke with a couple employed at the same company to uncover how a relationship functions when the boundaries between work and play are blurred…
Tanya Garner, 23, and David Lucas, 20, both have jobs at the highly successful sandwich chain Subway, and have enjoyed a whirlwind romance which began 4 months ago. They are currently living together in a flat in Solihull and have only recently got engaged.
The happy couple filled me in on what makes the most perfect ingredients for a sub-perb relationship both in and out of the workplace (please excuse the puns sandwiched into that sentence) to test whether rotas and romance can go together like bread and butter…
Tell me about how the two of you first met.
Dave: “We met at work – at Subway. We didn’t even ask each other out, it just sort of happened.”
Tanya: “It was more of a drunken conversation!”
What was your first impression of each other?
Tanya: “When I first met Dave I thought he was quite quiet and shy, and a really nice genuine person.”
Dave: “My first impression of Tanya was that she seems like a nice girl and I instantly wanted to be friends with her. We both just really got on and I always enjoyed working with her.”
What do your colleagues think about your relationship?
Dave: “We are mates with most of our colleagues so I think they are happy about it.”
Tanya: “Yeah, people at work seem fine with us being in a relationship.”
Is it weird working together?
Dave: “It isn’t weird working with each other. It just feels the same as when I wasn’t going out with her because we just have such a good laugh.”
Tanya: “I always enjoy work when we are both on the same shift.”
Do you have many arguments at Subway?
Tanya: “We never argue at work – not yet anyway!”
Dave: “If we did argue on the job it would stress me out.”