The Inquirer today has a story about office romance at Manila’s many call centers. First, congrats to the PDI for keeping my attention through the entire story. I think it may be the first time I’ve read an Inquirer story from start to finish. Second, whether this is true or not, it is an interesting concept: call centers contributing to an increase in extra-marital affairs.

Angel, who currently has a boyfriend not working in a call center, said she herself was being courted by an older married coworker.

His wooing, she said, comes leeringly with some kind of assurance that “it’s supposedly a natural thing in call centers to have a lover while you’re inside and another one outside, both at the same time.”

“Para lang daw masaya (Just for a little happiness),” she told the Inquirer. Asked what she thought made her call center prone to such indecent overtures and liaisons, Angel said: “When you’re in one, you tend to spend more time with your coworkers than with your family or partner. You practically have a life nowhere else but there.”

The parts about keeping a relationship going on the nocturnal hours of call center employees also makes for some interesting reading.

Happy Valentine’s Day!