A leap of faith

Only thing for this single girl to do is jump over the moon.  What does that mean, aside from being an awesome line from one of the songs in RENT?  It means I have to start taking real, true chances, and to stop doubting myself.

A few months ago, I began a new position within my institution.  The new position required me to switch departments, buildings, and came with the accoutrements of a new work-group.  In my new environment, there are a lot of research labs; I don't work in a research lab, rather I support a couple of big-name Principle Investigators (PI's).

When I came to this building to interview for this position, I kept running into the same guy on the elevator.  My gut reaction was to get some stereotypical single girl fluttering.  I'm pretty sure my internal dialogue went something along the lines of "HELLLLOOOO!  I could get used to working here...hehehe."  No joke, my mind is very comparable to that of a twelve year old boy.  Have I mentioned I had to go through FIVE interviews before being offered the position?  Yup, five.  And more than half the time I came to my future new building, I rode the elevator with him.  I NEVER built up the cahones to say hello.  Just smiled politely, and as it kept repeating, most likely became more red in the face each time we rode up the couple of floors to our destinations.

To my surprise, a few weeks after starting my new job, I was told about this guy who works upstairs who is single.  It didn't take me long to figure out it was the same guy as Elevator dude (WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?!  RIGHT!?  For realz).

Since then, a few of my coworkers have began plotting and scheming to get us to date.  The kicker is we TECHNICALLY work in the same division, but I don't support the PI he works for, therefore there should not be a conflict of interest.  I've been very open to the possibility of dating him; more so because of the tainted couple of months I've recently had in the romance department.

.....but something keeps stopping me.

The whole "dating someone you work thing" can be a super sensitive subject.  Some people say it shouldn't matter, while others would argue it's the worst thing since Lindsey Lohan and Kim Kardashian became top news headlines.  I'm on the fence.

I've dated someone I work with once and only once.  I feel the situation was COMPLETELY different though because I was a lot younger, and we also happened to work in a restaurant and not and academic/professional environment.  Does the field you work in matter in areas of life involving (potential) romance?

YOLO (you only live once).  YOLO is what lead me to abandon my inhibitions, and to take a leap of faith.  Today, I emailed him asking if he'd like to walk with me to the farmers market later in the week, and grab lunch after.  He hasn't replied yet, but at least I'll go to bed knowing I tried.  If it works out, it works out...and if it doesn't, no harm, no foul.

Do you think I did the right thing?