Tandem'ing...

There is always a lot of talk about conflict of interests and unfair favoring and other similar "charges" when couples work together. Yet, there is a very distinct other side of the coin that is much less explored, understood or appreciated. The good things of hiring couples. Certainly working together is not for everyone, and many people prefer to keep "work" and "home" separate, but let me tell you, I have loved every minute of it.

Chris and I have been working together now for the past four months. While we are in different sections, we all share one massive office building, neatly divided into cubicles. Thus, we see each other pretty much 24-7, or if not, at least can hear each other across the room. I sit near the entrance of the building and enjoy the frequent stops he makes at my desk shuttling to and fro from meetings. Similarly I love having lunch with him and our friends in the cafeteria, and best of all, we understand the stresses and demands that this place puts on each other.

In addition, we have found that we work very well together. Take the other night, for instance, he got a very late request for a presentation to include in to the Government of Iraq 100-day plan report, and I offered to help (kinda part of my job to assist with any and all information requests that comes in) - we sat down, and literally 30 minutes later we had finished what would take me hours with someone else. The reason? We know each other so well, we practically complete each other sentences, and we know how the other one thinks, where not to interfere and also how the other gets things done. It was great. Surely a benefit to an organization to have this level of productivity and hire people who actually like each other.