Working in hospitality, you get to witness people from all walks of life, and all sorts of situations.
In a fascinating window into other peoples’ romances, these waiters have shared to Reddit the horrific dating experiences they’ve waited upon.
These are proof that dating is tough, and searching for Mr or Miss Right is sometimes a bumpy road.
Caught in the act
“Worst first date had to be the one where the guy’s current wife/girlfriend showed up at the restaurant, surprised him at the table, and cussed him and his date out before throwing his plate across the restaurant.”
Emergency at home
“I work at a fairly nice Italian restaurant, where we do a lot of business. One night a man who I was not even serving came up to me while I was punching an order in on the computer and hands me $20 and a napkin with a phone number on it.
“He proceeds to tell me ‘I am on the worst date of my life, this woman is horrendous and I have to get out of here. Take this $20 and please go to the nearest phone and call me and tell me that I have to get home right away. I don’t care what excuse you make up, I just gotta get the hell out of here’.”
Stood up
“The chick didn’t show up so I watched the guy text her novels while he sat there cussing me out for not filling up his water cup enough times. Guy was hella thirsty, literally and figuratively.”
He’s just different
“Once witnessed a date where the dude talked about how special he was and how his mind wasn’t like other people’s for the entire date. The girl was politely nodding along and every time she tried to get a word in, he’d cut her off. Absolutely brutal.”
Misguided deed
“I was working at a Mexican restaurant at the time. I was waiting on a couple and I could tell it was a first date by the questions I heard them asking each other. Anyway, towards the end of their meal there was this Hispanic girl sweeping next to their table and the woman looks at her, holds out the remains on her plate and says, “would you like to take this home to feed your kids?” I stood there in complete shock. This woman spoke no English, but she could tell this random woman was completely degrading her. The sad thing is she seemed like she really thought she was doing a good deed. Her date looked so embarrassed.”
Post-op
“I work in an Italian restaurant. A few years ago I waited on a guy and girl who met for the first time upon arriving at the restaurant. There were awkward pleasantries exchanged at the door and then they were seated.
“When I was taking their order the guy asked if we had soup because he had mouth surgery a few days prior and chewing food was still a little rough. We don’t have soup, so I explained that the “softest” food on the menu was gnocchi. He ordered the house gnocchi and proceeded to cut each tiny dumpling into four or more pieces and slowly chew each piece. He ate that entire dish over a 3 hour period and the girl stuck it out for the whole thing. She looked miserable and I’m pretty sure they never saw each other again.”
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Getting frisky
“I work at a Japanese restaurant and one couple comes to mind. We offer ‘private’ rooms that have sliding doors, and this couple clearly were hitting off very well…to the point that after a few drinks, she had moved to his side of the table and they just went at each other’s faces and bodies for about two hours. They could have done all that with the doors closed and it would have been less cringey – still cringey nonetheless – but no, the sliding doors were wide open for all the patrons to see. Kids, big groups of people, waitstaff, runners, etc…If i remember correctly, they tipped pretty bad too, so it was not a fun time.”
Meal ticket dates
“I probably saw hundreds of ‘meal ticket’ dates where the girl spent the whole time with her face buried in her phone after ordering the most expensive items on the menu with a $20 double Cosmo.
“And, yes. We do (did) talk about it and make fun of you after hours.”
Serial dater
“I used to work at a very small neighborhood restaurant. Everyone that came in was a regular. Most were couples in their 40’s-50’s out for a quiet dinner, but there was one stand-out.
“A VERY handsome man in his early 30’s would come in, it seems, only to break up with women. About twice a month he would come in with a beautiful woman and partway through their meal she would be crying. I always tried to clean the tables near them for as long as possible but I never heard much of his speech.
“He always tipped well and was super nice to me and my coworkers, it was just brutal seeing him bring in a new lady and knowing what she was about to go through.”
