Like a growing number of young couples, Nathan Shaw and Maiko Sato met at the office, in a Cisco Systems training program for new recruits. They dated openly as fellow employees for a couple of years.
和越來(lái)越多的年輕夫婦一樣，內(nèi)森?肖爾和佐藤麻衣子也是在辦公室相識(shí)的，他們初次相遇在思科系統(tǒng)為新員工舉行的培訓(xùn)項(xiàng)目中。隨后，他們便當(dāng)著其他同事的面公開(kāi)約會(huì)了好幾年。
　　
And when Mr. Shaw was looking for a novel way to propose marriage, he picked the office as the setting. He engaged his boss as a co-conspirator. During a date with Ms. Sato one evening, his boss phoned Mr. Shaw on the pretext of asking him to stop by the office to test some teleconferencing gear.
而當(dāng)肖爾先生想找到一個(gè)新奇的辦法求婚的時(shí)候，他還是選擇了辦公室。他讓自己的上司成為了同謀。一天晚上，當(dāng)肖爾先生和佐藤女士約會(huì)的時(shí)候，他的老板如兩人事先約好的計(jì)劃打來(lái)電話，要求肖爾先生到辦公室測(cè)試一下某種電話會(huì)議系統(tǒng)。
　　
As Ms. Sato gamely tried to help with the 'test,' Mr. Shaw guided her to the engagement ring he had hidden, then flipped a flashing slide onto her teleconferencing screen: 'Say yes!' After a moment of stunned silence, she did. The two married in 2008 and remain happily co-employed at Cisco's San Jose, Calif., campus.
而當(dāng)佐藤女士自告奮勇地試圖幫助“測(cè)試”的時(shí)候，肖爾先生把她引導(dǎo)到他事先藏好的訂婚戒指，然后將一張閃爍的幻燈片打到她的電話會(huì)議屏幕上：“答應(yīng)我吧！”在一陣感到吃驚的沉默后，佐藤女士答應(yīng)了肖爾先生的求婚。兩人于2008年結(jié)婚，而后一直在思科系統(tǒng)位于加利福利亞州圣何塞的辦公室共事。
　　
Office romance is coming out of the closet. More than any other time during my 19 years of writing this column, the workplace has become a place for courtship. Some 67% of employees say they see no need to hide their office relationships, up from 54% in 2005, says a CareerBuilder survey of 5,231 employees released Tuesday.
辦公室戀情正在不斷公開(kāi)現(xiàn)身。在我撰寫(xiě)這個(gè)專欄的19年中，辦公室已經(jīng)成為求愛(ài)的一個(gè)場(chǎng)所，而且現(xiàn)在比任何時(shí)候都要普遍。根據(jù)周二公布的CareerBuilder對(duì)5,231名員工的調(diào)查，約有67%的員工表示，他們認(rèn)為沒(méi)有必要掩飾自己的辦公室戀情，比2005年的54%有所上升。
　　
In the past, 'the Baby Boomers kept office romance secret' amid fears of career damage or reprisal, says Helaine Olen, co-author with Stephanie Losee of 'Office Mate,' a book on the topic. Now, amid growing openness about sexuality and greater equality between the sexes, she says, singles 'are saying, 'Why is anybody even bothering to keep this secret at all?''
與斯蒂芬妮合寫(xiě)了《辦公室戀情》一書(shū)的作者克拉斯基表示，過(guò)去，嬰兒潮一代總是對(duì)辦公室戀情諱莫如深，擔(dān)心這會(huì)損害他們的職業(yè)前途或者招致報(bào)復(fù)。奧倫女士表示，如今，由于人們對(duì)性的態(tài)度越來(lái)越開(kāi)放，兩性之間越來(lái)越平等，單生男女都在想，“誰(shuí)還會(huì)刻意把這種事情當(dāng)作秘密來(lái)保守啊？”
　　
That doesn't mean all the old rules have changed. Affairs when one or both partners are married are still taboo. Nor is it OK to snuggle up behind the copier with your latest crush. Employers still expect even the most out-there workplace couples to behave professionally.
這并不意味著所有的傳統(tǒng)法則都已經(jīng)改變了。一個(gè)或者兩個(gè)合伙人發(fā)生辦公室戀情的事情還是禁忌。和你最新的戀人在復(fù)印件后面卿卿我我也是不合時(shí)宜的。雇主仍然期待即便是最為公開(kāi)的辦公室情侶也要行為端莊。
　　
Dating your boss or subordinate is generally out of bounds, too. Court rulings in recent years have broadened employers' exposure to sexual-harassment lawsuits, making this a more sensitive issue. A growing minority of employers have written policies requiring employees to disclose any romantic relationships to a superior and allowing the employer to separate the partners at work, says Manesh Rath, a Washington, D.C., employment lawyer.
與上司或者下屬約會(huì)通常也不被允許。根據(jù)近年來(lái)的法庭裁決，雇主遭遇性騷擾的訴訟日益增多，也使上下級(jí)的辦公室戀情成為一個(gè)更加敏感的話題。哥倫比亞特區(qū)的雇傭律師馬耐什?拉思表示，雖然還在少數(shù)，但是越來(lái)越多的雇主已經(jīng)制定了書(shū)面政策，要求員工披露與上級(jí)主管的任何戀情，允許雇主分開(kāi)共事的合伙人。