Valentine's Day is perhaps one of the busiest times for restaurants, with couples forgoing take-out to share their romantic evening together in public.
Many establishments are festooned with red balloons and heart-shaped decor and illuminated by plenty of candles to set the perfect mood.
With so much love in the air, what could go wrong?
Apparently, Cupid's aim is not always on target at restaurants on the popular holiday.
Redditor Sindagen asked:
"Waiters what Valentines day disasters have you witnessed?"
Servers and patrons alike shared their stories of witnessing love going down in flames. "Hell Of A Show"
"Used to be a professional musician and the four piece band I was in got booked for a Valentines event in a local bar."
"Guitarist invited his girlfriend down so they could be together on the night."
"What he hadn't counted on was his wife getting the night off work and coming to the show too as a Valentines surprise."
"Everything was ok for the first set of the night. The problems began when both Gf and Wife met in the band room backstage. Most of the band escaped the obvious row that was coming and waited by the bar for the 2nd set."
"We all then watched as the wife stormed onstage and began trashing the Fender Telecaster , Stratocaster and all his pedals, leads, amp etc. No one had the courage to stop her . She was rightly pissed."
"Shortly after she left the stage, the gf had her turn, destroying whatever was left of his gear. Between both cheated women, they caused around £2k worth of damage to his set up."
"Needless to say we played the 2nd set as a three piece."
"But it was a hell of a show lol."
Ring With Dessert
"At the beginning of the evening, this man gave me a ring to bring with dessert."
"The couple began arguing before they even ordered and ended up screaming at each other in the restaurant. My manager made me ask the guy - as discreetly as I could - if he still wanted the ring with the dessert. It was that bad. I really didn't want to, but I asked. He then started to scream at me that OF COURSE he still wanted the ring. He was right after all, it wasn't my business at all. So I brought out the ring."
"She said 'Are you f*cking serious?' and left."
"Then the man screamed at me again when I wouldn't let him chase after her / leave without paying. In the end he just threw the money on the table - huge tip, but I think he just gave what he had - and left."
"He had made such a scene we had to give free desserts to the tables next to them to make up for it."
"After the service I told my manager I was never questioning a client's request again."
The Proposal
"Not a waiter, but there was a couple seated a few places away from us. They sat far enough away so that we couldn't hear the conversation, but it was obvious that they were arguing."
"Waiter did his spiel on the set tasting menu, handed out a wine list. Guy orders wine for both of them and she interrupts with 'I'm good I'll just have a water.'"
"They continued over a very uncomfortable meal, during which he kept asking stuff. She'd respond with increasingly annoyed no's."
"Waiter returns, notices that appetizers hadn't even been touched yet. Tops off her water and his wine, then asks if everything was tasting alright. He finishes with a 'I'll give you guys some more time to enjoy.'"
"She (now loud enough to be clearly understood) 'I can't keep doing this with you.'"
"Angrily forks into her appetizer and finishes. just in time for the entree to arrive. Arguing continues, and guy is looking increasingly nervous. Suddenly, he gets down on one knee."
"She 'oh God no.'"
"He takes her hand to put the ring on it I guess. She snatches her hand away like he's lava."
"He (still not reading the signals) 'will you do . . . '"
"She, bursts into tears."
"Entire restaurant audibly 'awww.'"
"She 'I can't believe you would even ASK after what you did. I told you I needed space. I don't even know if I CAN trust you anymore.'"
"After that, things were kind of a blur. I think she threw a couple of $20s on the table, then ran out. He stayed on the ground, still holding up the ring like he wasn't done proposing yet."
"Waiter returned with one of those sweet@ss lava cakes topped with a little 'she said yes' thing."
Asked To Leave
"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."
Stalker, Party Of One & The Divorce Papers
"Man comes in in a full suit, a bouquet of flowers, a large box of chocolate, and some expensive jewelry."
"He sits at a table and happily tells me he's waiting for his beloved, an hour passes by and the guy went from sweet and smiling to sweating and muttering angrily."
"He then gets up and walks over to a girl sitting with her family and starts yelling at her. He yelled how she betrayed him and how she'd treat her right and she had to be with witm him all the while the girl's male relatives were sheileding her from him."
"Police arrived and it turns out the guy had a restraining against him from the girl and he had been stalking and harassing her."
"What made it even creepier was that he was in his 40s while the girl was barely 20 years old."
"Another is when a man walked up to a woman and her date and just slammed a large and heavy envelope in front of her and walked away."
"The woman went from amorous octopus with her date to treating him as if he was the most disgusting man in the planet to running after the man. Woman was his wife and he had caught her with her side piece and he had served her the divorce papers along with the evidence of her infelidity. What made it worse was that the date had no money and we had to contact the woman to pay us."
The Greedy B
"Working restaurants for 14 years. I had a guy asked me to help him bring the ring and champagne after the dinner and I did that. Being a woman and wanting to witness the romance, I hid around the corner so I could kind of peek at them."
"They were lovey-dovey all through dinner everything seemed good and I fully expected yes. The woman did not react well at all. She told him no and that she was planning on breaking up with him. She added the only reason she was on this date with him is because he said he bought her something special for Valentine's Day. She thought he was going to buy her the car she asked him for, and she was going to dump him next week. Then she said since you didn't get the car, she's dumping him now and she left!"
"The guy was absolutely devastated! I felt so bad for him. I will remember her for the rest of my life because how could I not! What a greedy b****"
Topped With Dessert
"We had a classic of a couple coming in all dressed up and out for their romantic dinner, but as the meal went on they gradually got more and more tense and their muttered argument slowly became very loud. Walking back over to refill drinks or take plates seemed to make it even worse, but I couldn't just leave their (very small) table covered in stuff. By dessert they were basically waging war on each other, and the evening ended with the guy getting a bowl of chocolate cake and ice cream emptied over his head."
"I still have no idea what they were arguing about, but the poor guy just sort of shoved a loads of notes on the table and ran out of there after his partner."
Fired On A Date
"I was a waiter at The Pasta House and another server was pregnant and trying to cover as many shifts as possible before she had the baby so she asked if she could work Valentine's Day for me and I said sure. Dinner reservations fell through for my date and I so we decided to see if I could get a table at the restaurant where I worked. I walk in the door and they are very busy and my manager said, 'Thank god you got my message. So and so went into labor and we need you to take tables...' I told them I was on a date and they said it was my responsibility, so I got fired on the date and we just went to a bar and grill."
– icunicu
Trips To The Bathroom
"Woman was 8 months pregnant. Guy brings her in for Valentine's and has the mariachi band sing their love song."
"He pulls out the expected ring and she says yes. Things looked perfect... Only spicy Mexican food is perhaps not the best choice when 8 months pregnant."
"She hurriedly shuffled to the restroom 5 times. The 5th... She didnt make it."
"Its a very small community so I met them years later at a wedding party. I walked up and introduced myself. I mentioned I had met them before years ago. 'In fact I was there years ago when y'all got engaged. The emotions were just... Flowing that night?' The husband laughed the wife covered her face in shame and I was invited to their DnD group."
Table For One
"With my girlfriend in a restaurant, we saw a young man alone at a table. A bunch of flowers and box of chocolates sorta-hidden behind his chair."
"He had so obviously been stood up by his Valentine's Day date..."
"Poor bastard."
Having It Your Way
"I had a friend he used to work the drive through at Burger King and he told me overheard this conversation on Valentine's day while taking a car's order."
"Girl: Get me a #3..."
"Guy: It's Valentine's Day baby, you can super size it!"
The Sexist
"Had a brief stint as a waiter in high school."
"This one couple look very sweet and loving, no apparent problems. The girl got down on her knee and asked him to marry her."
"He started laughing hysterically and explained to her that proposing is a man's job, not a woman's."
"She was furious. She started screaming about how sexist that was, then got her stuff and stormed out. He looked completely bewildered."
Screaming
"I was working in a very quiet bar a couple of years ago, there was one couple sat in a corner booth having a screaming argument. Very very awkward."