The Only Black Guy in the Office

Office Relationships Are Too Damn Messy

Getting dragged into my co-workers’ dating drama is confirmation that workplace romance isn’t worth the trouble

The Only Black Guy In the Office
LEVEL
Published in
5 min readJul 20, 2020

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Illustration: Richard A. Chance

Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.

My roommate and I were in the middle of rewatching the last few episodes of Insecure, vexed at just how badly Lawrence fumbled the ball with Issa and Condola, when she hit me with a question straight outta left field. “Bro,” she asked, “how are you even managing?” I had no choice but to laugh; I’ve been pretty much Skip Baeless throughout this seemingly endless national lockdown.

My roomie, though, is one of the lucky-ish ones. She had a partner to claim before lockdown started, and even though they had to thug out three months of cuddle-free courtship before caving into home visits, they still managed to fan some flames through FaceTime dates. As for the rest of us single folk — aside from the ones who figured fuck a quarantine, I have needs — the scene is pretty bleak.

Folks are getting creative these days, sprucing up their dating app profiles to score even a crumb of pillow talk and maybe a relationship to follow. Before…

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The Only Black Guy In the Office
The Only Black Guy In the Office

Written by The Only Black Guy In the Office

Do you know him? Is it you? The trials and tribulations of a Black man navigating corporate life.