15+ People Who Had Front-Row Seats to Valentine’s Day Gone Wrong

February is a month of love, where lovers express affection towards each other. Dates on Valentine's Day are always romantic and lovely, but something can go wrong sometime. These people share how they witnessed Valentine’s Day relationships fails.

• I got to watch a couple break up. Naturally, they had a table right in the middle of the restaurant, so everyone could enjoy the show. She went to the restroom for an extended period before coming back and bickering more.
  He asked for the check, I had it ready in my apron, she stormed out as he paid and packed up the extra food. All I could do was wish the guy good luck. © TheCosmicJester / Reddit
• A couple came in just after we opened and sat on a table in front of the bar, the woman clearly looked uncomfortable and like, it was their first date. The man then proceeded to shower her with gifts and ‘explain’ the joke behind each one of them, she looked really awkward and was just responding ‘uh okay’ to everything.
  It was made worse by the fact he had got her a pink foil balloon with the words ‘I’m with sexy’ on it. They left shortly after. © cats4lyfbanana / Reddit
• My friend and her husband would fake a proposal every year on Valentine's Day for free food. Turns out, one of the people working that day also worked LAST Valentine's Day. She shut down the shenanigans, and they got kicked out. They moved to a new restaurant and continued the tradition the next year. © goomygirl123 / Reddit

• [Edited] Valentine's Day was an all-hands-on-deck shift. I was waitressing at a restaurant and the guy I had just started seeing wanted to go out. But I told him that I'm working in food service, I 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 / Reddit
• [Edited] My co-worker served a couple on V-day. They ate a lot of food, drank a lot of wine, and had a great time. They got along really well with my co-worker who was their server.
  A few months later they returned and requested him again, who happily said yes to serving them. He goes up and greets them, the man introduces his wife to him, and my co-worker casually mentioned something about how much he enjoyed serving them on Valentine's Day. The couple goes quiet. His wife gets up and leaves, the guy just lowers his head.
  As it turns out the wife he had brought was his mistress on Valentine's 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. © Vesploogie / Reddit

• I 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! © Theh***nun / Reddit
• 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, and halfway through the dinner, the man's wife showed up to surprise the couple. The wife took the wine bottle and poured the remnants on the husband's head, took off her ring, and told the girlfriend she could have him. He tipped me a $100. © kobra_kyle / Reddit
• I was having lunch with my friends in a place that was common for proposals as it was "very romantic". It was of course Valentine's Day. We saw this couple walk in, who were very cuddly with each other. They sat down and ordered food, and me and my friends continued on with our food.
  I saw the lady from the couple leave to go to the toilet (I assume) and saw the guy slip a ring into her glass of water. When she came back, she gulped up a huge amount of water and slurped up the ring.
  The guy tried to pay her back to get it out and caught the attention of a waiter, who then slapped the lady who was choking, stomach really hard. The ring and some vomit went all over the poor waiter. The couple left shortly after that. © nemothe_***

• My mother and I both used to work at this tiny Japanese restaurant - she was the hostess, and I was in the kitchen. The parents are divorced; the father left her for a Hispanic woman.
  Valentine’s Day comes, and this blue-eyed blonde woman comes in and asks for a table for two. Then my father walks in. Takes one look at my mother, grabs the woman’s hand, and rushes out.
  Mom comes into the kitchen to tell me what just happened, we have a good laugh. The blonde lady is NOT his wife. Once a cheater, always a cheater! © halfyellowhalfwhite / Reddit
• These two were on a date and the guy went to go use the bathroom. The girl just up and left after he went to the restroom. When the guy came back, he sat around for a while until asking his waitress where she went. She replied by saying that she left.
  The guy then asked the waitress if she would go on a date with him. The waitress said no. © OffensiveGender / Reddit
• 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. By the time I brought the checkout, 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.” © Mike Saunders / Quora

• I was in high school, my classmate made an effort to make up with her friend who was mad at her for teasing her with a guy. If I remember, they had an intense argument on social media.
  They made up, but then the guy suddenly approached this friend with a Valentine's Day gift. Our room basically screamed over that cute gesture and so did my classmate who just made up with her friend. She kept teasing her and the friend snapped again, threw the gift on the floor and said that she wasn't comfortable with stuff like this, and stormed out of the room.
  Everyone went silent, the guy felt rejected, of course. At this point, he should notice that she doesn't like him. My classmate got another making-up to do.
• I delivered a single calzone to a very upset man who seemed to have gotten rejected. He was half dressed up like he was going to go out somewhere nice but changed his mind. I gave him back his tip, the gesture seemed to lighten his mood a bit. © SouthNCE / Reddit
• A few years back, we had a disgruntled ex-employee return to the store on Valentine's Day, knowing that it was one of our busiest days of the year, and release a few live mice she had purchased from a pet store for feed.
  She walked in the front door and sat down at a table and opened the box underneath the table releasing the mice into the restaurant and causing most of the customers to begin screaming as if rabid animals had come through the front and began ripping people from limb to limb.
  Many customers refused to pay the bill, and the manager obviously could not evaluate the situation at the moment to provide a credible response. The restaurant was closed for the evening and most of the checks were closed out with no payment. That really hurt the store's business for quite a few years.
  It took us a while to figure out the employee was the one who did it, and it was only discovered after they had traded it on social media and one of our workers saw the post. Very fun time. © Aios / Reddit

• I saw one really bad thing (not a hospitality staff). At a bar, one guy had booked a table for him and his gf. He is just there waiting for his girl and his phone rings and he answers. It's his gf saying sorry, but I'm seeing X.
  He starts crying a river. Note I'm next to him. Hope the poor thing is alright. © TeutonicRagnar / Reddit
• A few years back, my wife and I were at a fancy-ish fondue restaurant for Valentine's Day. There was a middle-aged couple at a nearby table that was getting into it with each other, not loud enough for most tables to hear because of how the restaurant was configured, but we were just right to pick it up.
  After several rounds of "You ALWAYS make me...." and "Well, I don't see why I should have to...", the lady finally comes back with "I don't think this works anymore." She says that she'll go stay with her sister for a while. Then, they sit in silence for the next half hour while they finish the remaining courses of fondue. It made our dinner a bit awkward. © ghalta / Reddit
• I went to Tim Hortons to get an apple cinnamon latte. People ahead of me are a couple. The girlfriend did look like she wanted to be there.
  They get to the front, the boyfriend orders his stuff (it was a lot of stuff), the girlfriend tries to order, and he stops her saying he can't afford her stuff. She asks if she can have some of his stuff, since he ordered a lot. Nope.
  He buys his stuff, waits off the side for it and the girlfriend leaves the place. He gets his stuff (half a dozen donuts, bread bowl soup, coffee, and 2 sandwiches), sits down at a table, and realizes his girlfriend is not there.
  I got a drink and left, looking back to see if he would be coming outside to look for her, but I never saw him come out. © ChaosMind55 / Reddit

• A man tries to plan a romantic proposal for his gf. He gives the ring to the waitress to bring out with some cheesecake. The couple is having a great time, but after a bit, the man starts to wonder about his surprise. Not wanting to ruin the surprise, he makes an excuse so he can go check on the cheesecake and ring. He kisses his gf's hand and excuses himself to the restroom.
  As he turns the corner, he watches another waitress place a small plate, cheesecake, and ring on a different table. Gasps are heard all around them, and the female looks up in surprise to her male friend with tears in her eyes. She says yes and holds her hand out to her friend. He is in shock and is still trying to process what just happened. After a moment he smiles and places the ring on her finger and everybody claps.
  In the end, the restaurant bought the first guy a brand-new engagement ring set for his gf (his choice because he didn't want to mess up the happiness of the newly engaged across the room) and offered to purchase his and her wedding rings for them as well. The restaurant was hired to cater to the wedding of the second couple.
  To this day, both couples are happily married. © BPaste / Reddit

The last one ended on a happy note, but these people truly saw some unusual V-day dates. On the other hand, check this article for some wholesome couple stories perfect for Valentine's.