I spend more time with these gals than I do with my hubby!

I've talked so many times about my relationship with my husband that I think it's time I talk about another relationship I'm involved in that is just as important: my relationship with my officemates.

The Truth

The Cosmo editors are one helluva crazy bunch. Our row is possibly one of the (if not the) noisiest rows in the entire office. On any given day, you will hear one or all of us breaking into song, loudly quoting movie lines, doing our best impersonations of any personality you can possibly think of, and even busting out a dance move or two (editorial assistant Irish talked about this in her blog entry last month!). To a fault, we've heard quite a few "Shhhh!"s thrown our way from other rows on our floor.

But, it's not all sugar and spice among us. We're all just your regular girls, composed of editors and interns Kim, Winnie, and Alex. Even art director Red and intern Peterich—who are both "honorary girls"—cannot balance out all the female hormones flying crazily about. Yes, we have our PMS-filled days, when you have an editor (most of the time, me) coming in to work with an ugly scowl plastered on her face. Yes, we've had our share of bickering, of super-tense moments you couldn't even break with an axe, of snapping and bitching around. We're mostly female, and we can't help getting catty every once in a while (particularly when deadlines loom dangerously over our heads).

Time With Workmates > Time With Hubby

Imagine, we all spend five days a week with our officemates. With our required 10 working hours a day (of which we normally exceed—up to double or triple—the required number of hours doing our work), I spend at least 50 hours with them, as opposed to the 48 hours I spend with my husband on weekends. Sometimes, I stay at the office so late with other editors that I don't even get to see my husband (yes, we're that devoted to Cosmo!). I get home when he's already asleep, and a couple of hours later, he's up and ready to leave for school (he's a teacher; hence, his work hours are so much earlier than mine). It can get lonely when this happens often; that's why I make sure to devote my weekends and all my free time to my husband as much as possible.

So, understandably, it's only inevitable that we encounter a few unpleasant situations. It's funny because with every job I've had, I have shed tears (yeah, I'm emo that way) because of all the hurt, the stress, and the feeling of being so overwhelmed. No matter how many times people tell me, "Acting professionally means that you don't have to take things personally," I more often than not take things personally anyway. How could I not? I spend so much time with them—most of my waking hours, in fact—that it becomes very personal. You share so many pains, career-related or otherwise, and so much of yourselves with each other, that it really does become a personal relationship. In fact, some of the people I've worked with throughout my career have become some of my dearest, closest friends.

Practicing Both EQ And IQ

What I'm continually learning from my career is that work doesn't just involve being smart, organized, or task- and detail-oriented. It's also about working to develop relationships into truly enriching ones, whether on a professional or personal level. And my relationships with Cosmo editors are works in progress. Everyday, we share something new with each other. Everyday, we prove to each other that we can do our jobs to the best of our abilities. Everyday, cattiness notwithstanding, we rely on each other to churn out the best possible magazine that you, our dear readers, will be holding and reading soon. And that makes our bond with each other grow stronger.

How about you? How's your working relationship with your officemates? I'm sure many of us have been in nasty office rows. The August 2011 issue has an article called "Quick Fixes For Touchy Work Sitches" that'll help you deal with different kinds of unpleasant, work-related situations.


Sometimes, the Cosmo team becomes so close that we even come to work dressed in almost-the-same clothes! Launch the gallery to see our matching outfits!

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