It's Valentine's Day, and, for many people, a day to look back and commiserate with pals over some of the most nightmarishly awkward first dates imaginable. Of course, although it may sometimes feel as though you're the only one to have walked away from an encounter red-faced and despairing of ever finding love, you're absolutely not alone.
One woman has opened up about a disastrous date that started off poorly and went downhill from there. She claims her potential love interest turned up in a camper van, and asked her 'jump in', on the promise that he knew of 'a lovely beach nearby'.
She was taken aback by this as the original plan had been to take a stroll around the seaside town before stopping off at a café together. Given that she'd never met him before, she just wasn't comfortable getting in the van with him, and so declined his offer.
Sharing her story on Mumsnet, the woman recalled how he'd been 'a bit put out' by her refusal, and proceeded to ask 'for money so he could park his van'.
She agreed and handed over the cash, but it clearly wasn't to be.
Cash in hand, her would-be date drove off home and 'never came back', leaving her standing waiting in the car park alone. He later sent her a text message shedding some light on his vanishing act, explaining, "he'd left because he'd been offended and then asked for another date".
Understandably, she didn't fancy seeing what date two would involve, clocking the encounter up to a bafflingly bad romantic experience.
Others could relate all too well and shared some singleton horror stories of their own.
Recalling a date who'd cooked her a meal of frozen Chicken Kiev, oven chips, and spaghetti, one exasperated woman recalled: "I thought he was taking the p*** at first but he was being dead serious and thought he’d done a grand job."
Another remembered a truly awful double date at a bowling alley, where her prospective partner didn't 'say a word to her' all night.
Do you have a bizarre first-date story to share? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
