Aimeé
If you are bummed about being single on the most romantic day of the year, read the answers to this question on r/AskReddit started by u/Hamsternoir. It will make you glad that all you have to do tonight is make popcorn and watch Netflix.
They asked, “Waiters: what Valentine’s day disasters have you witnessed?”
Based on the replies, Valentine’s Day is mostly disasters. Maybe it’s the high stress of trying to have a “special” romantic evening, maybe it’s the rich food, maybe it’s the fact that so, so many people think it’s a good idea to surprise propose after just a few months of dating. Whatever the reason, this holiday is a minefield. be careful out there. Love is wild.
1.
There was a note in our reservations that it was an engagement, they wanted champagne, a specific seat, bunch of other stuff. The server comes up to the table with something like “so I read we’re celebrating an engagement, congratulations”. Confusion from the woman; glaring from the guy. He hadn’t proposed yet. She ruined it. —ChefHannibal
2.
They came in at lunch the day after, so it was pretty empty but it was still for a Valentine’s Day date. They were both pretty nice at the beginning, the guy asked for a picture and whatnot. As the meal went on, the dude got progressively drunker and by the time I brought the check out, the woman was gone. When the dude gave me his card, he said “I’ll give you a bit of advice. If you’re taking a girl out to break up with her, do it at a McDonald’s and not an expensive restaurant”. —_StanleyYelnats
3.
A nice lady brought her kid in for dinner. Got seated at a table next to her husband and his mistress.—me-gusta-la-tortuga
4.
He proposed, she said no. He cried and tried to change her mind for 20 minutes while she sat there stony-faced. She finally got up and walked out. He paid and left in tears. —SpinachandChickpeas
5.
These two were on a date and the guy went to go use the bathroom, The girl just up and leaves after he went to the restroom. When the guy came back he sat around for awhile until asking his waitress where she went. She replied with saying that she left. The guy then asked the waitress if she would go on a date with him. The waitress said no. —OffensiveGender
6.
I had a section one V-day that had a marriage proposal, a 40th anniversary, and a break up all at the same time. The break up was the worst. The guy brought his high class date a gift; a mini ceramic bear holding balloons. He presented it when I was at the table and she looked at it like it was a hot turd. I just knew this was not going to end well. She left at the end of the meal and must have said something because he stayed at the table for another 40 minutes, head down and crying. I felt bad, he saw the celebrations going on at the other tables.—Odd-Examination
7.
I was eating in a fine dining establishment (Chili’s) several years ago. In the next booth was a really young guy who had a big bunch of roses on the seat next to him.
He kept looking at his watch, looking at the roses, and popping open a ring box for a peek at the ring.
He did this for a half hour or so, then began calling and texting someone (presumably his girlfriend) over and over.
As we were waiting for our check, he hands my wife the roses, mumbled something, and walked out.
Poor guy.
Edit: I don’t consider Chili’s a fine dining experience. My wife and I had done some shopping and stopped off for a burger and beer afterwards. —AZScienceTeacher
8.
I used to be a waiter in a 5 star restaurant it was my first week. One guy was about to propose it was obvious by how much he was sweating he was drenched. I tried to make them both relax. They went on to finish up their meal. As soon as the cake arrived he then went on one knee, she stood up suddenly he vomited right on her high heels. After the shock of what just happened she still ended up saying yes —KindSoul1
9.
Not a waiter but I was a pastry chef at this big resort in cape cod. We got a special order from this guy who was coming in for his anniversary ( Valentine’s day). He wanted his desert to have “Will you marry me?” written on it so he could pop the question when it came out. He called ahead to the front and back kitchen, even came in himself that morning to make sure it was good to go.
The whole crew was behind him. We had cooks all night coming in the ask if it had happened yet. I wrote the inscription on the plate and dressed it to the nines with gold leaf and expensive chocolate. I’m taking a picture of the plate just before it’s set to go out and notice our head waiter come in with a weird look on his face. He says plainly “They don’t need it”
She broke up with him before the entrees hit the table. —jeanlukepikard
10.
A guy did a backflip and asked a girl to be his valentine… she declined. I walked up to him and asked if he was fine, he said it took him a week to perfect. —beejeko
11.
A guy proposed to his girlfriend and she said “no”. The guy threw his arms up and ran out of the building.. Later, while waiting for someone to pick her up, she told us it was completely out of the blue, because they’d only been dating for a few months…
Another V-Day, a guy raised a HUGE fuss over the fact that we wouldn’t serve liquor to his under-aged girlfriend. —Jukka_Sarasti
12.
I served at a Japanese hibachi restaurant and once had a couple come and the dude dumps her after the meal. She then gets up and throws up a trail probably a good 20 feet as she runs to the bathroom. The dude got up and left the girl and I was left to clean the mess. —moneybagmeisenheimer
13.
Had a couple sign divorce papers and cry a bunch. —kitkatpaddywat
14.
16 years in hospitality gives you some good stories.
The most awkward:
My first job as a waitress a guy wanted to propose to his girlfriend. He came in 2 months before to book and had everything figured out. He planned to pop the question during dessert. We had champagne, balloons and sparklers prepped for the big moment. The time comes, he drops to one knee gives a speech about his love for her. He asks, she says no, puts the ring in her bag, finishes her dessert and leaves. Quite possibly the most awkward thing I have had to witness (alongside around 200 other people.) The manager gave him everything for free he felt that bad for him. Cringed inside every time I saw him after that.
The most f—ked up:
I was working as a duty manager and one of the tills kept dropping off the network. As I was trying to fix it I could clearly hear the conversation of the table by the waiters station. It started out sweet enough with her excitedly telling him she was pregnant. He went quiet and didn’t say anything for a bit and then asked her what the plan was. She said she was keeping the baby. He said he didn’t want kids and had told her this. She got upset and said she thought he’d be happy and change his mind when he found out. (By this point I’ve fixed the till, but am unable to step away from this car crash.)
Turns out she stopped taking the pill without telling him thinking she could turn him around. He said he knew she could be a little nuts sometimes but this was next level. He told her it was over and she could send someone to collect her things as he wanted nothing more to do with her. He called me over to pay the bill and just left. The guy never even shouted, he just calmly went f—k this and noped out of there. I couldn’t even look her in the eye, just left her to leave in her own time.
The funniest:
Managing hotel room service where there was a valentines package that included getting each course of the special menu delivered to your room. More than a few couples thought it was a good idea to call for the next course and then start having sex. Having to help with deliveries as reception f—ked up the bookings; I had the ‘privilege’ of people answering the door naked, seeing sex toys strewn around and one where the other members of the threesome were carrying on in the background.
After complaints of similar instances from my team I had to take action. I ended up having to call the offending guests and tell them if they could not respect my team by answering the door in at least a closed dressing gown they could come down and collect the rest of their meal from the restaurant. Bonus from the same night: had to call an ambulance for a woman with a dislocated shoulder. The guy admitted that they were trying to recreate a bukkake type scene in the shower using conditioner as the ‘cum.’ He slipped in the conditioner and fell on her. —_lilliput_
15.
Old man proposed to old woman. He tried to get off the chair to kneel, tripped and fell and I assume broke something since he couldnt get back up and we had to call an ambulance. My manager had to drive her teeth to the hospital separately because she had taken them out to eat her soup (lord knows why) and left them on the table in the confusion.
Edited to add: I don’t know if she said yes, my manager didnt get to see them at the hospital, only pass on her teeth to the nurse. Thank you kindly for the gold and silver though!—rancid_c*nt_bucket
16.
A 16 year old boy proposed to a 15 year old girl with a cheap ring in the whipped cream of her dessert. She said yes. —DirtyDratini
17.
Not a waiter, but in my strip club bouncer days we had one of our regulars get suited up and bring flowers in one V-day to try and woo one of the dancers. It did not work. Pro-tip: If every time y’all hang out it involves you giving her money, she is not in to you. —BigBodyBuzz07
18.
Not my table, but back in my Olive Garden days, we had a man who looked to be in his mid-20s tap his empty wine glass with a fork to call for attention of the surrounding strangers, then get down on one knee with silver band in hand , and ask his girlfriend/date to “accept this promise ring.”
She looked horrified start to finish. —LeapingMouse
19.
Bus boy on Las Vegas Strip. An attempted proposal. Dude tries to set up sign with gf’s friends for her to show up and see the ring near a fountain. Duck stole the ring, they found it 2 hours later as he dropped in the fountain. She still said yes. Free drinks where given. —grub_en
20.
Had a man and woman sharing dessert and the man playfully put a bit of the ice cream on her nose she then did the same and he did it back once more but with a different flavour of ice cream. She the flipped out at him because “you know I like chocolate the most why would you waste it you idiot”. In the end she stormed out cause the man couldn’t comprehend how much she was blowing up the situation.
TLDR, man put ice cream on woman’s nose she is fine with it the first time, the second time she rages and leaves. —Yeetacus420
21.
Back when I served food at one of those super touristy seafood restaurants, I worked a Valentine’s Day double shift. For lunch, this younger couple came in celebrating their one year anniversary. I offer my congratulations and proceed to do my usual spiel before taking orders. The girl is looking more and more dismayed the longer I talk. Finally I get to the end and ask if there are any allergies. She looks directly at her boyfriend and states, “yes I’m allergic to fish and shellfish.” Then looks over at me very sad.
I made sure every aspect of her meal was fine for her. But It was that look of “we’ve been dating a year and he still takes me to a restaurant that could kill me” that really did it for me. —allthewrongwords
22.
I was working for a higher end chain steakhouse in the North West corner of greater Los Angeles (in the valley). Valentines is obviously one of the top 5 busiest days of the year for us, we did about 500 covers between 5 and 10 PM. It’s also a restaurant with a very open concept floor plan. Booths along the 4 walls of the restaurant and an array of tables in the middle with no partitions or anything between them. A younger couple (maybe mid 20’s) dressed to the nines came in shortly after we opened and were seated in a table basically in the dead center of the dining room.
They were very friendly and pleasant and I could tell that for them, dining at our restaurant was a really special treat so I did everything in my power to make it special for them. When they’re done, probably around 7, I brought their check which was around $300. When I came back to pick it up the guy had a super embarrassed look on his face and he said he thinks he left his wallet in the car and the woman, who is embarrassed for him, doesn’t have anything with her because her dress had no pockets and she didn’t bring a purse. So he goes out and 5 minutes later comes back in looking pale as a ghost. He has left his wallet at home and asks if he can call back later with payment info.
My GM won’t let this fly because there’s no collateral of any sort he can leave, so the guy has to drive home TO BURBANK to get his wallet while the woman waits, with her hair done and her red lipstick and her pretty dress, In The middle of the dining room on Valentine’s Day. Now, on the best day with no traffic (never happens) it’s at least 40 minutes each way from our restaurant to Burbank. She was there for almost 2 hours waiting for this guy. We were all so embarrassed for her that the staff kept discreetly slipping her drinks and little amuse bouche bites from the kitchen. It was one of the most awkward things I’ve ever seen in a restaurant. When he finally got back he was super apologetic to us and to her, he paid the check and tipped like 30% and they left. It was pretty obvious it was an honest mistake but I still think about that couple from time to time and wonder how things worked out for them.
Posting this from my phone so apologies for any typos or formatting problems —tdkme
23.
A couple sitting at the bar were enjoying their night out. The man got up from his barstool and left for the bathroom. As his girlfriend was alone (and absolutely wasted) at the bar, a random woman approached and revealed that she recently matched with the woman’s boyfriend on Tinder and had hooked up a week earlier. The drunk girlfriend refused to believe this story, so the woman showed her his Tinder profile and their conversation. The boyfriend returned to a drunk, sobbing and screaming girlfriend.
I felt like I was watching a reality tv show, it was incredible. The poor girl was basically carried out of the bar by her boyfriend of 3 years whom she just discovered has been cheating on her for who knows how long. It was the most dramatic moment I have ever experienced and it was absolutely none of my business.
EDIT: I was a bar-back at the time and this couple sat directly in front of the place I spend most of my time, the glass washing station.
EDIT 2: For those wondering how the woman knew the couple was in a long-term relationship. I really don’t know. My guess is she figured it out the same way I did, based on listening, body language and the fact that this woman was overly touchy and liberal with cheek kisses and such. It was fairly obvious. Regardless, she approached out of concern and curiosity and she succeeded in outing the guy which resulted in a very upsetting scene. —t97brandt
24.
In college I waited tables and Valentine’s Day was always a good one in terms of tips.
I once saw a couple come in to eat, halfway through the dinner the mans wife shows up to surprise the couple. The wife took the wine bottle and poured the remnants on the husbands head, took off her ring and told the girlfriend she could have him.
He tipped me a $100 —kobra_kyle
25.
I was working as a waitress in a Sushi restaurant and Valentine’s Day was an all-hands-on-deck shift. This guy I had just started seeing wanted to go out, but I told him that working in food service, you never get Valentine’s Day off and we’d just have to celebrate the day after or the weekend after.
Nope. He got so upset that he went and asked a different girl out, came to the restaurant I worked at on V-Day and sat in MY SECTION. He then proceeded to spend the entire evening making a fool out of himself and making his date uncomfortable as he tried to make me jealous.
Needless to say we didn’t go out again. Ever. —venustas
26.
I was the manager of a wings-and-pizza place with a full bar – definitely not the kind of place you’d take someone for a “romantic” Valentine’s Day dinner, but it was still busy because some people aren’t very tactful.
We had a guy who had called ahead and asked if we could put a ring in a dessert for him and of course, we obliged. He dropped the ring off the day ahead and I put it in the safe in our office to keep it secure.
Fast forward to Valentine’s Day. The couple shows up, and they’re so obviously in love that she didn’t seem to notice or care about the fact that he had brought her to a middle-of-the road place with a sports-bar atmosphere on the most romantic day of the year. They ordered champagne (well, the local winery’s best sparkling white), entrees, and it was almost time for dessert. I had used my Chef skills to whip up a special chocolate strawberry tart that wasn’t on the menu, just for this occasion (because why not try to make their night at least a little fancy?)
I went to the safe to get the ring, and… It wasn’t there. I was freaking out big time. I asked everyone there if they knew what the f—k had happened to it. My assistant manager on-site had no idea, so I called my other assistant (who also had the safe code) and they didn’t know, either. Finally, my bar manager mentioned that one of the owners had been in earlier, and spent a little time in the office. So, at my wit’s end, I called the owner.
It turns out that he had seen the ring in the safe, and thought it was something a customer had left behind. Figuring that he had come into an extremely lucky situation, he decided (like the scumbag he was) that he’d take it for himself and save money on a gift for his wife on Valentine’s.
So, I asked the server and bar manager to help stall the couple. The server told them that we were going to do something special for their big date, and to hold tight.
I ran out, hopped in my car, and rushed to get the ring from the owner’s house (because he was – as I had mentioned – a scumbag, and didn’t want to be bothered with bringing the ring to the restaurant himself).
The bar manager went over to the table, and did some complicated, table-side cocktail mix that had a bunch of flair bartending tricks and ended with a flaming shot that, once dropped into the rest, made it smoke (I was really disappointed when I heard about all of this because I would have loved to see it instead of breaking a ton of traffic laws on my quest to get the ring).
Finally, I rushed back in after about 15 minutes of being on the brink of a heart attack, placed the ring on the dessert, and had their server take it out. At that point, just about the entire staff was watching the table, and when we saw the look on her face, my heart finally started beating again.
She said “Yes.” And, I started looking for someone else to work for the very next day. —Icmedia
27.
I was working at a corporate sports bar that specialized in chicken wings. V-day (like most days) was INSANELY busy!
As the evening winds down, someone calls in saying they’re a professional food critic and demanded to speak to the manager. After a 15-minute call, the manager tells us the “critic” rated us a B- and said the food was good, but the service sucked. He said he would leave that last part out of his review if we comped his meal and gave him vouchers for free meals in the future…but he refused over and over to say where he worked.
Confused, the manager talked to the server…who confirmed that the guy ate alone, ran her around ragged while shamelessly hitting on her, and left zero tip (he wrote his phone number on the tip line).
Thirsty bitch wanted free food because the server didn’t call him immediately for a date. —daschande
28.
Saw a couple have a full on argument at a restaurant. I wasn’t their server but the table was directly in the center of the restaurant and they were certainly loud enough for everyone to hear. My manager kindly asked them to leave and the guys response was to yell “I’ve been wanting to do that sh—t for 2 years now” and stormed out —PackersFan8712
29.
I walked up to a table and was about to drop off the bill, caught the end of “it’s over.” Guy looked at me dead in the eye and said to “split that f—kin check, right now.” —WritersHardBlock
30.
I worked at a pretty high-end Mediterranean Bistro, my second Valentine’s there it was probably the busiest night I’ve ever worked as a server. We had reservations that booked basically the entire restaurant including the bar and patio from 4 P.M to 11:00 P.M. No walk-ins were to be seated unless a reservation was cancelled, or someone with a reservation didn’t show up.
Most of the customers were pretty understanding and either waited or simply left. One dude however kept pushing and pushing asking every 10 minutes how much longer until he is seated, constantly saying how he is a regular customer; and how his date is going to be there at 7 (he got there at 6). We insisted that once a table was available, and all the customers before him we’re seated, he would get a table, but because the amount of reservations we couldn’t guarantee he would even get a table at all. At about 6:50 the guy loses it, fast-walks up to the hostess stand where the reservation book is, grabs the reservation book and practically runs out the front door.
Now everything is going to complete sh—t because the only copy of the reservations for the night that is barely half over is gone. Two of the owners ran outside to follow the guy and try and get the book back, but by the time they got out he had already left the parking lot. Even better is, two hours later, chaos is still running rampant and the dude shows back up saying he has a reservation for two. Three of the five of the owners (all brothers) escorted the dude and his date out to the parking lot and banned him from the restaurant permanently. They even took a picture of him and posted it in the window saying “Do Not Serve This Man”
TL;DR Salty dude without reservation steals reservation book and then tries to come back later
EDIT: If anyone wants to use this for a sitcom feel free; just let me reprise my role as the waiter and we can call it even. —danmatfatcat
More Valentine’s Day…
- Meat Cute: Beef Jerky “Broquets” Are For Sale In Time For Valentine’s Day
- 30 Funny Memes For Anyone Who Doesn’t Care At All About Valentine’s Day
- Valentine’s Memes Won’t Fill That Hollow Space In Your Heart (29 Memes)
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