And yes, some Valentine’s Days we uncovered were just downright ugly. From break-ups to utter embarrasment, Valentine’s Day is more forgetable than memorable for many.
For example, Scott Brickett would rather forget his Valentine’s Day three years ago with his ex-girlfriend. He bought her flowers and took her out to dinner for the evening, but he spent the entire evening planning how to break up with her.
“It was one of the most awkward nights for me,” Brickett said.
He stuck with it though until a week had passed before he finally broke things off with Jennifer.
“I couldn’t do it on Valentine’s Day. I was too concerned she would do something to my property or something. I have pets. Please don’t burn down my house,” he said with a grin.
Brickett said he was surprised by how well she took it.
“Tears but nothing significant,” he said.
Sophomore Ryan Tully was on the other end of a similar conversation. Only he, was a bit younger.
“I was in 5th grade dating this super hot girl, and she broke up with me on [Valentine’s] day.”
UT’s former strength and conditioning coach, Raphael Ruiz, also had a horrible Valentine’s Day. Then 19, he shared a mutual attraction to a young woman named Amanda, who like him had always been in relationships, that is until this particular Valentine’s Day. So Ruiz went in for the kill.
“Amanda lived in the Zeta Sorority house which was right next door to the Chi Upsilon house, where it just so happened that another Amanda lived.” Ruiz said.
Valentine’s night came and Ruiz picked up the phone to call Amanda at her Zeta sorority house, but mistakenly called Chi Upsilon where the other Amanda had picked up. Coincidently, she knew Ruiz.
“The phone numbers were off by like one digit, and I guess some how the stars aligned and the Amanda that I ended up calling actually knew me! So here I am asking an Amanda that I want nothing to do with out for Valentine’s Day,” Ruiz said.
He ended up having to take out the “wrong Amanda” and leaving behind the Amanda with whom he really wanted to share Valentine’s night.
“That entire night was so awkward, and I’m pretty sure the poor girl got the hint that I just did not want to be there,” he said.
Ruiz never ended up with the Amanda that he really wanted that night. Even after he had explained what had happened, she still thought he was a jerk.
Similarly, Leann Morris, a transfer freshman in fine arts, had no trouble recalling her most horrific Valentine’s Day.
Her ex-boyfriend once gave a present to another girl as a joke and even asked the girl out for a Valentine’s Day date.
“I’m guessing he was actually serious,” Morris lamented. “He was a jerk.”
Christine Reynolds also had “a really lousy boyfriend” during her sophomore year of high school.
“I knew he wouldn’t get me anything for Valentine’s Day,” said the sophomore criminology major. “I specifically asked him a week in advance to just please get me a rose, and I got nothing.”
For others, flowers just aren’t enough. According to junior Paula Fonseca, giving a memorable Valentine’s gift is all about originality. She remembers her freshman year of college when her Valentine gave her the typical flowers and chocolate, which, in Fonseca’s opinion, showed a lack of creative consideration.
“I thought it was going to be more special,” admitted Fonseca.
Similarly, David Leess, a sophomore, calls Valentine’s Day the “national holiday of disappointment.”
“When you’re single on Valentines Day, you feel like you’re the only single person in the world, so it makes you feel really lonely, so this year I’m going to have multiple multiple Valentines. I’m going to give lots of presents–no one ever turns down a present.”
Post your own Valentine’s Day story below, and then click to see the rest of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
Contributed by Elizabeth DeVries, Stefanie Huertas, Emily L Drenberg, Abby Snyder, Michael Lynn Turtle, Preston Murray, Jessica Audeh, Danielle Cohen, Meredith Mandato, Lindsay McMillan, Vincenza Daniels