No, a guy won't ask a coworker out because he's smart. Forget fear of rejection of fear of a sexual harrassment charge (though that could be a very real fear). Any smart person will tell you that you do not s*** where you eat. There is nothing good to come of dating somebody that you work with. Unless of course you get married...but who knows that's a very real possibility going into the relationship.
If you all go out, take things further, and then things dissolve, the work place becomes the is messy cauldron of evil-stares, hushed conversations, and gossip.
I remember many moons ago at a job where it seemed like EVERYBODY was dealing with somebody else that worked at this same locale. It was non-stop gossip. It was TMZ on acid. Every day when I showed up for work there was some new story about who hooked up with who and when and where and why and from which chandelier they were swinging when the monkey showed up. Not that I wasn't entertained - I stayed out of ALL of the gossip - but it got to be a bit much. Of course, it was a call center in Atlanta, Georgia, so it was to be expected but still.
Anyway, a smart guy would want to stay out of the potential harpooning that comes along with workplace fraternization. Then again, this also depends on what type of job we're talking about.
If you work at McDonald's, he's probably just scared of women.
It was written.
It's not always "that bad" if both the people are mature about it. I work with one of my exes. We started dating about a year & a half ago. Called it quits in late June/early July this year. I was hurt at first, but I/we kept our personal life(s) separate from work. All the guys we work with knew (even if it wasn't by our own admission) and they tried to be nosy, but we kept mum about the whole situation. Which in the long run I think made the "break up" that much easier.
So, although there is a big part of me that believes in the "don't sh*t where you eat" saying. Dating a co-worker can be done if you're mature about it. And if you can manage to keep your personal life from your professional (i.e, no holding hands, flirting, making bed room eyes at eachother, etc). Leave that for after clock-out time.
I think the "to date a coworker or not to date a coworker" question really depends on the size of the company (no pun intended =P). If he works on the 5th floor and you work on the 12th, then you could avoid each other if things went bad. If your company consists of 20 people in a 50X50 room, on the other hand, it could get ugly.
Of course, unfortunately for the question-asker, a guy might not ask a coworker out because he's not interested in her.
Exactly. I was about to say....maybe he's just, I don't know...not into you?