15 waiters share the worst first-date disasters they've witnessed in their restaurants.

Servers and bartenders play an important role in making sure that people's dates go smoothly, and have a front row seat to when awkward or entitled customers ruin their dates for themselves.

In a popular thread, waiters dished on the worst first dates they ever bore witness to, and folks....there will be barf.

1. Not all heroes wear capes.

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.'

Initially I thought he was kidding until 2 minutes later the guy who was serving him came up to me to tell me how wicked this woman was and how he could tell the guy didn't wanna be there. I promptly called that guy as soon as I had a free minute.

One of my shining achievements as a server. -XelaKebert

2. IHOP stands for 'Intimate Hand on Penis.'

I work at IHOP. About once a week two middle school/early high school age kids come in and sit a table away from each of their parents and kiss and and hug on each other excessively. One time I think the guy was getting a handjob underneath the table. The parents just maintain conversation and pretend not to notice. The kid is also a huge d*ckhead. -skatercookie123

3. Either that dude was a psychopath or the food was really THAT good.

I was working in a small restaurant with two floors. A woman and a man came in and I had a table for them upstairs. It looked like they had a first date because they were asking those 'getting to know each other'-questions. After ordering food the woman had to go to the toilet, which is downstairs.

As she walked to the stairs, the food arrived. She walked down, tripped and fell all the way down knocking her head on the ground. Two colleagues immediately rushed over to her to see how she was doing.

She was unconscious and bleeding from her head so they called an ambulance. I went to the man while he already started eating and told him his partner (didn't know how to call her) fell down the stairs and that she was unconscious and that an ambulance was on the way. He walked to the stairs, looked down and walked back to his table to finish his food.

Later the ambulance arrived and I asked him if he wanted to go with hem to the hospital and he said no while finishing her food as well. It was so awkward he just sat there for another 45 minutes eating, drinking, paid the bill and left. I still don't know what kind of relationship they had and whether the woman is okay. -evaholierhoek

4. Thank u, next.

Served a couple a few months ago. Every time I walked over, he would always be the one talking, and she would just be sitting there not having a good time. At the end I asked if it was one bill or separate and she immediately piped up 'SEPARATE'. I go and take his payment, and as I hand over the debit machine to the girl, I see the guy take his phone out and start swiping through Tinder. -oversized_canoe

5. The only thing more awkward than a first date is a last date.

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. -cuterus-uterus

6. At least he had a head start in drinking the pain away.

More a story of a non-date: I worked at a cafe and it was a small local chain so there were two other locations in the city. This guy sits down for about an hour and comes up to the counter and asks if we can call around to the other locations to see if this girl was there because they had a date planned and he was sure she must have just gone to the wrong location.

We called to the other two locations and they said they never saw anyone fitting that description. The guy stuck around for another couple hours, buying two more drinks and a sandwich just waiting until we finally closed for the night. I felt so awful for him! He seemed so crushed. -chantalkc

7. Nothing like some casual anti-Semitism to set the mood.

Ooooh! He made a comment to her about how he's 'not jew-y' so she should order whatever she wanted. She was Jewish. Spent the rest of the evening in silence as he went on about how his ex girlfriend was anorexic and 'so annoying about food.' He was happy to be on a date with a woman who could eat like a normal person. So weird.

8. Racism works too (this is sarcasm. Racism is by no means a turn-on).

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.

9. Was she FBI or CIA?

Had an obvious first date where the lady was grilling the guy on how much money he makes and he didn't really want to answer. It was awkward serving steak and salad during an interrogation lol. -literallynamedchad_

10. Manterrupting is mansplaining's equally obnoxious cousin.

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. -frogsmouth

11. A good date for the couple, a bad date for everybody else.

I work at a Japanese restaurant and one couple comes to mind - it was the 'worst' for everyone else involved. we offered 'private' rooms that have sliding doors, and this couple clearly was 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 & 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. -alwaysfrozen

12. This is a morality play that should be taught in schools.

I work at a country club that is up to its ears in old money that uses said old money to make more new money--the membership fees cost more than a year at my university. To say money is not an issue there would be an understatement.

Anyways, I was serving a young couple and the power imbalance was phenomenal. She was the daughter of one of the board members and the entire staff knew her (read: her father's) club account was major money. And the gent, well he wasn't a member, and certainly looked like he was just the average broke college student. He was wearing plain but nice clothes and she was dressed to the nines in fashion.

The date seemed to go smoothly enough, nothing out of the ordinary. Until she gets up and leaves the table before I have brought out the bill.

I bring the bill to the counter (knowing it is well over $300 worth of food and drinks, all things SHE insisted on ordering--2 bottles of top shelf wine, neither finished--two steaks, when he asked for the chicken and she insisted on him eating steak 'like a man') and he solemnly goes to pull out his wallet and starts tearing up apologizing that he won't be able to tip. I mean, I've never had a customer cry over not being able to tip.

And he further explained he was a server too and that she didn't know he wasn't rich and she left because he had told her about his scholarship. I was flabbergasted. And kindly reminded him that at this country club we do not take credit cards nor cash, we only charge to accounts.

And so her father got a hefty bill--rest assured he signed a handsome tip to me in her name. (Club policy is that the registered guests may sign for their host member, given that the members have invited them) It was entirely satisfying. Last I heard her father cut her off, I can't help but smile at all the life lessons she is learning—like working to go on dates. -good_will_confused

13. Karma is a dish best served at Applebee's.

Worked at Applebees. This woman was the worst woman I've ever waited on. She was needy and slurped down her iced tea like there was a world wide shortage. He was silent. He didn't talk once except to order his quesadilla burger, and she just kept going and going prattling on. And she was mean too! Talking down about how people were losers to be servers, and how much better it was to work in a shop.

At the end, he went to the bathroom and just never came back. He apparently jetted out the side door where the to-go girls worked and gave them a twenty to give to me. Worst Woman was just sitting there and waiting for him to come back. I stood there at the servers station just waiting for her to realize he wasn't coming back.

So after ten minutes, she just started crying, pushes her chair over, and flounced out. I didn't get a tip, but it made my night.

14. He put the 'bar' in 'barf.'

My bar has two floors, and on this night I was working upstairs. Couple came up with beers they already had bought, and sat in my section. I go to introduce myself, girl seems nice, guy says nothing, just stares at his beer.

They eventually get another round, and as I'm dropping off their drinks, I hear the guy slur out 'chank youuu vurry mush.' ...F*ck. He's wasted. It was just a beer anyway, nothing too strong, but it WILL be his last round.

I go about my business for a while. At one point I glance up at their table. The girl is gone, and the guy looks like all hell. I thought to myself 'Damn, he looks like he's about to--' and right then, he hurls. Not a lot came out, and he tried to pass it off as a cough, but I saw enough pour out of his mouth, onto his chair and the floor.

I grab my barback and a trashcan. Barback gets to work on the vomit (I love you D, wherever you are), and I put the trash in front of the guy. I told him to go to the bathroom, take the can with you on your way, then GTFO. He says nothing, just stares at his phone for a minute, then gets up and leaves.

I race around looking for his date. I found her at the bar trying to pay her tab. I tap her on her shoulder and try to tell her about her date, but when she turned around, her face told me everything. The shame and embarrassment that glazed over her might make one think she was the one who just tossed her cookies. That's when she told me it was their first date. They had met through a mutual friend, and she really didn't know him at all.

My bartender and one of our awesome regulars overheard. We paid her tab. She ended up staying at the bar hanging out for a while as the aforementioned regular bought her more drinks. Real nice lady.

TL;DR Don't barf on a first date.

15. Let's end on a story with a happy ending.

Olive Garden, around 2014 or so, from like 7:30 - close on a weeknight.

Middle-aged man of sub average attractiveness was sitting alone at a table with a glass of water, insisting that his date would be 'just a few minutes, there's traffic'. At around 9:15, manager had to come out and let him know that the restaurant would close at 10, and if he'd like to place a food order, he should probably do it now. He ordered a bruschetta appetizer, and said again that his date was on her way and they'd order when she got there.

9:45, this BEAUTIFUL woman walks in and awkwardly stands by his table. I couldn't hear the conversation they had, but the man then asked for a box for the appetizer and they wound up leaving together without her even sitting down. -​danisaurrusrex