Can you tell when one coworker is attracted to another?

Sometimes. It depends on the people involved.

It's sometimes easier to spot unrequited love. The fat/unattractive secretary in love with the boss is the classic.

If he inserts his penis in you, attracted.

A woman at my first job after graduating college was “in love with me,” according to another coworker. We were both in our twenties. She was nice, but it obviously wasn't going to happen. I remember thinking, why does she smile and giggle so much? Once my coworker blabbed, it made sense.

You have to dig through their wastebasket and uncover love letters as per another DLer, OP.

Yup. At my last job there was a co-worker who would spend a great deal of time standing in the doorway to my bosses office and talking. He would do the same at the entrance to her cubicle.

She would occasionally make silly faces and stick her tongue out (guess she thought she was being "cute") when he would walk by her cube or pass her in the hallway. I picked up on it pretty fast and co-workers were shocked when I pointed it out. They had to transfer her to an adjacent department when it became really hot and heavy.

Of course! The surefire way you can tell is to send him a note that says:

-------

Do you like me? (Check one.)

Yes___

No___

Its often times obvious someone at least has a crush on an infatuation on a coworker just by the longing or lustful way he/she looks at the other one or listens in on their conversations.

When the 25 year old intern gags and chokes on the 40 yrs old man cum when they are in the Executive washroom bathroom stall, and you are in the last stall. Love marble stalls that go to floor!!

At my1st job in NYC, it happened all the time, it was 1990 at the time.

I was in a mutually intense, emotional-only affair with a co-worker that lasted almost three years. I was under no allusion that the others in our small office were unaware.

R5 was she eventually ignooored?

No R10, she ended up marrying my boss who soon died of cancer.

Watch him bloom

You all knew.

Yes OP, it's called flirting.

Yes, I can. I had a female colleague who was perpetually disheveled and doing things in a half-assed manner. One day, I saw her interacting with my coworker, a married guy. Female colleague's demeanor lit up in a way I had never seen. She was giggling, talking, animated, etc.

I told someone (another male coworker, married & Mormon) what I had just observed. He said: _____ is married! I said, so?

"Body language and glancing looks" My boss on Wall Street Harvey's wife Marion always told me "Watch the body language and glancing looks of your co-workers in an office environment" And the pats on the back too! Dead giveaway, Marion told me.

… People are talking, talking 'bout people

I hear them whisper, you won't believe it

They think we're lovers kept under cover

I'll just ignore it, but they keep saying

We laugh just a little too loud

Stand just a little too close

We stare just a little too long

Maybe they're seeing something we don't, darlin'

No one knew I liked the guy I'm dating now-- not even my best friend at work. I liked him for YEARS. But I got him in the end, when the time was right, and we've been together for over a year.

To clarify, the "time was right" when I left for a new job.

Can a straight person tell when a closeted gay person is attracted to a straight coworker if the gay person has done nothing to indicate that is the case?

This used to happen to me all the time. These days not so much, at least that I'm aware of. Thank you Covid.

That all depends on the straight person, R20. The average cube-frau? Probably not. Younger guys who haven't led sheltered lives, they may be able to pick up on the undercurrent/vibe.

If you're very closeted and truly send no signals then no, probably not. A lot of straight people are clueless.

I was in an affair with my boss once and nobody knew. He wasn’t thought of as hot so nobody thought I wanted him or talked about him in that way. Also he was married with a kid so I think people thought he just had a boring breeder life. He went out of his way to be an asshole with me in front of others so I think that also helped.

R20, not unless the straight coworker has excellent gaydar.

This is VERY common amongst self loathing, gay men. I truly want to point this out. There are a contingency of gay men who cannot get it up for other gay men-only straight men.

They’re plagued with total pathos. It’s not about attraction as much as it’s about power, dominance & control over straight men.

Remarkably so, this type of shit is rooted in rape culture, and while I am absolutely positive every self loathing gay man here will deny this, it’s the truth.

Why would you sexually/romantically set sights on, or even target a straight man, if you yourself are gay or bi, and could easily hook up with other gay or bi men? What? Is this man going to make an exception for you because you’re special? Because you’re simply irresistible?

GMAFB.

I’ve seen this happen first hand with someone I was very close to for years, & I couldn’t figure out why he just didn’t go for other gays.

He wasn’t ugly. He was smart. He was witty & funny. But as soon as he met the new cute straight boy at work with a string of heteronormative dalliances, a girlfriend, a fiancé, a wife with or without kids… BOOM! That was the next love of his life.

I believe I may be seeing this play out right now at my current workplace, but I’m not engaging in any of it, as I think it’s somewhat sickening, definitely manipulative, & I have faith that the young man who is currently being targeted, is intelligent enough to figure this out on his own.

Staying in one’s lane isn’t always a bad thing.

Um, sure. And sometimes people just want to fuck people at work whether they're in relationships with women or not, R24.

Women always think it's about them. Fucking narcissists.

No, but I can always tell when two coworkers are having an affair. They arrive in the morning exactly ten minutes apart (one circles the block or grabs a coffee) and leave five minutes apart at end of day (one walks ahead and the other catches up).

It’s pretty foolproof to spot.

Of course Covid and wfh have changed all that although you can bet that they’ll both have the same glue day.

Glue day?

Glue day is the day when a team of mostly working from home people agree to be in the office on the same day each week. E.g. I work four days from home, one day in the office each week, same as most of my colleagues, our glue day is Wednesday.

Maybe it’s an Australian term.

Must be an Australian term. I never heard of glue day.

R26 is right. If the attraction is one-sided, it can be hidden, but when two coworkers are "secretly" together, it tends to be blindingly obvious

Why would I spend even a moment wondering whether my coworkers want to fuck each other?

They both wear the same outfit two days in a row.