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Fortunately, we have the people most up close and personal to tell us the juicy details.
Reddit user, u/Hamsternoir, wanted to hear:
Waiters what Valentine day disasters have you witnessed?
Just Keep Going Like Nothing's Wrong
GiphyI saw a couple have a full blown argument in the middle of the restaurant. The woman stood up, took her ring off, threw it at him and walked out. The man continued his meal, had dessert and then paid the bill, left a pretty big tip for the inconvenience and left!
At Least She Was Quiet?
Every year in my city, there's a big wine expo. One year it happened to fall on valentine's weekend and the expo was being hosted about half a mile away from where I worked at the time. Anyway, most of the couples who came in for dinner that night already had purple mouths, but one couple in particular was so gone that the wife spent the entire dinner with her head in her husband's lap, apparently quietly vomiting. They ended up paying and leaving halfway thru their meal and we found the wife's nice vomit surprise after they left.
To make matters worse, where they were sitting was a larger U shaped banquet meant to seat parties of 8 during regular service, but since it was valentines day, it was converted to two 2-tops. So of course we couldn't seat either table for the rest of the night until it was properly cleaned. Thank god the restaurant was a pooled house or i would have been way more peeved. Definitely made for a memorable vday
Annnnnnnd They're Gone
GiphyI'm not a waitress but was a delivery driver for pizza hut and 2 years ago this guy answers the door after putting instructions saying to write "I love you, ____". I get to the door and say, "Happy valentines day, this must be one special lady" but he opens the door sad and says, " I tried cancelling this order but you had already left". Still paid for the order and tipped me and I left.
Just A No-Win Situation From All Fronts
my restaurant used to make you sign a contract that you'd be out in an hour since we cooked the food in front of you & the time management was REALLY important for the kitchen; Valentine's Day was the #1 day for business.
We were basically triple booked (one reservation after the other after the other... everyone needs to be out on time) at every table for the night; most of the restaurant was adjusted into 2-tops to accommodate so it truly felt crowded & loud; i don't know how people didn't expect the restaurant to be busy.
the time crunch was a lot of pressure for me as a server, but there were some couples that genuinely would blame the restaurant for "ruining their experience" [by getting their food out too quickly] & try to get a refund. when they wouldn't get a refund, because they clearly signed a contract & we agreed to get their food out on time, they would just fight more, then blame the restaurant for their fighting.
oh boy. i loved Valentine's Day.
The Longest Three Hours Of Our Lives
A perfectly nice date. Then out of nowhere they stopped talking...for three hours.
Then started a big fight, who has to pay and that she didn't even want to come and that he is tired of her sh-t. She runs out crying, he's yelling after her "I'm not paying!". Lovely.
Oof, Indeed.
GiphyLast year I started working at a restaurant. [A] man had called in asking for a reservation. The next day he came in and sat down. After entrees he ordered a dessert and when it came out it had a "Will you marry me?" written on it. [The] woman yelled at him saying "Why would you do it like this? Such a lame way."
She destroyed the desert and ran out of the building.
oof.
This Is Why We Have Calendars On Our Phones
The free entertainment some waiters and waitresses get on this special holiday is pretty unforgettable. When I was a waitress, I had to work part of Valentine's Day at a restaurant & bar, and I'll never forget one encounter in particular. A middle-aged guy came into the restaurant already buzzed, and he demanded a booth. Since he had a reservation, the hostess seated him in a booth, and after he sat down, I brought him some menus. He kept anxiously looking at the door and his watch every few minutes. I asked him if he wanted to wait to order until his other guest arrived, and he laughed and said "oh yes, I'll wait, and then someone else may come by later, but I'm not sure yet." At first, I didn't think much of this, but later on, everything clicked.
The guy's date eventually showed up, and by that point, he was ready to order, so he quickly asked for more alcoholic drinks and appetizers. I brought the couple their food and drinks, and a few minutes into their meal comes another woman dressed all fancy, and she walks right up to the same guy in the booth. She gives him the most surprised face I've seen in years, looks angrily at the girl, and then slaps the guy straight in the face. She swore at him and huffed out of the restaurant. Several seconds later, the original date stood up, splashed the guy's cocktail on his lap, and stormed out of the restaurant.
I was shocked at how everything escalated so quickly, but I felt bad for the two ladies. When I went back to the table to see if the guy wanted anything else before giving him his check, he laughed and told me that he probably shouldn't have scheduled two Valentine's Day dates at the same restaurant, but oh well. I hope these two ladies found a honest and loyal significant other after that fiasco!
"Putting ALL The goods out there."
I was waiting on a table and it was a date for Vday which also happened to be their first marriage anniversary. The girl was beautiful. Tall and blond and was a collegiate vb player. Her husband a handsome military dude. They were fine during dinner and having some drinks, but the girl took what she thought was her allergy pill ended up being her ambien.
She was 4 whiskeys deep at this point and when it kicked in she literally fell asleep sitting there, smacked her forehead on the table as she fell out of the booth and landed on the floor, her red dress hiked up in a bit of a spread eagle type display while having been rolling commando for the evening. Putting ALL the goods out there.
Her husband, took it in stride and asked for a hand getting her out to their car.
Seriously. This Is Why We Have Calendars On Our Phones. There's No Excuse.
GiphyFormer bartender here (not a waiter, I know).
Saw a couple come in. The guy was super nervous and the girl was super hot. They sat at a table and just ordered waters from the barmaid. Their talking got heated (I couldn't hear it over the music), and then she tossed the water on him and stormed out.
Guy walked over and said he'd just broken up with his girlfriend and could be borrow a towel.
I asked him why he chose to break up with her on Valentine's Day.
He looked at me. Looked at the door. And then said "oh sh-t. No wonder she was so pissed."
F-cking idiot. I poured him beers all night, but I never gave him an ounce of sympathy.
Really Staying On Top Of Things
ONce had a call from a guy on the 15th asking to make a reservation for valentines day. I pointed out it was the 15th and he was a day late. He responded saying that yes he knows, and his wife suggested he better not forget next year.
One Is Bad Enough, But Two?
Two failed marriage proposals on the same Valentine's Day.
The first one simply said "no I can't do this," and walked out.
The second one stared like a deer frozen in the headlights for an excruciating 30 seconds before muttering "let's talk about this later." They stayed for the rest of their 6-course V-day special dinner, eating and making painful small talk.
Awww, That's So HEY Where Are They Going?
GiphyIt wasn't disastrous for the couple as much as it was the restaurant. I used to work at a small southeastern franchise restaurant, it wasn't anything you could mistake for upscale. We had someone call in and ask if we could fry the ring he was planning to propose with in a hush puppy. Extremely weird request, but we said sure.
They come in to eat with their families, she gets her order of hush puppies, doesn't choke on the ring and seems excited enough. Stayed at the table for about two hours total and chatted.
They dined and dashed.
Not Off To The Best Start
not really a disaster but this guy came in and said he was waiting for his date, he stayed for 5 hours waiting and she never showed, he eventually ordered for for himself and asked that I remove the other glass of water from the table, he said it was their first date
Sometimes, It Just Doesn't Work Out
Not a TOTAL disaster, but still not good.
Had a table of two people, probably in their mid 40s last year. Took 45 minutes for this couple to get their entrees due to our kitchen being way too slammed. When they were dropped at the table, they immediately asked for to-go boxes because they told their babysitter they'd be home by a certain time. I overheard the wife say "well I guess this is why we don't celebrate Valentine's Day". The worst part was that they weren't angry, just... very sad.
My personal feelings about dining out on Valentine's Day aside, I felt so horrible that this couple clearly had put in an effort to have a nice night with each other only to have it go that way. (We comp'd their meals, btw).
Tell Us How You Really Feel
GiphySaw 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
This One Was Personal
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.
Everything Was Wrong
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.
Yeeeeesh
GiphyHappened to my poor co-worker;
A guy and his date came in for Valentines Day. They had a great time, ate a lot of food, drank a lot of wine, and got along really well with my co-worker who was their server.
About two months later they come back in and request my co-worker again, who happily says yes to serving them. He goes up and greets them, the guy introduces his wife to him, and my co-worker mentions something about how much he enjoyed serving them on Valentines Day. They go quiet. Wife gets up and leaves, guy just lowers his head.
Turns out he had brought his mistress in on Valentines Day, but my co-worker didn't realize he was with a different woman this time around so didn't think anything of it. We never saw the guy again.
"He paid and left in tears."
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.
Salt And Lemon On The Wound
Not really much of a disaster, but last year my work called me up, "hey buddy, we know you're single, can you come in as an extra shift tonight?"
Hey, That's Not So...Bad.
GiphyA 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.
Or Did You Come At The Exact Right Time?
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-ckin check, right now."
Too Cliché To Laugh At
It was like a movie. I was bartending at an Italian restaurant (not a fancy one, but still) and it's pretty much full of valentines dates. A guy walks in and sits at the bar by himself, looking pretty down. He asked for a whiskey, so I poured it, told him it was on the house because he looked like he needed it. He proceeds to tell me his story:
he had come to the city to surprise his girlfriend for Valentines (about a 5 hr bus trip between cities) and he sure surprised her. She was in her dorm room f***ing one of his friends from high school. He didn't know what to do, so he just walked into the first place that sold alcohol. I spilled as much whiskey as he wanted and watched the raptors with him. Never saw him again.
It's cliche, but it happened.