Elizabeth Garcia, 23, met her worst date when she and her girlfriends made the trip from Sonoma to Santa Rosa.

He and Garcia planned a dinner date at Shiso, a sushi resturant. Garcia who had never been there was excited but nervous because she liked her date so much.

The date was going great until their server came by. “The waitress got too friendly and they had a conversation right in front me while we were ordering,” she said. “First it was awkward and then I kind of gave the girl attitude.”

By the end of the night Garcia became uncomfortable because she felt like a third wheel on her own date. “I felt so bad I didn’t want to talk during dinner,” she said.

Yet, Garcia figured she would make the best of the date and ignore that she had just witnessed her date flirt with another woman in front of her.

The remainder of the date was quiet and awkward. Garcia wanted the date to end; she hadn’t enjoyed the sushi or the company she had.

Garcia talked to he date after that and agreed to give him another shot a week later, but he cancelled the last minute. He then told her it wasn’t going to work, and that he wasn’t looking for a girlfriend.

Tina Larson, 18, was still in high school when she went on what she considered the worst date of her life.

Larson, an SRJC Alumnus, agreed to go on a date she thought would be at a restaurant. Growing up in a small town filled with endless choices of great food, her date took her to a place she never expected for dinner.

“He wanted to meet downtown at 6:30. So, of course, I wasn’t sure where,” Larson said.

Excited, Larson primped for the night and got downtown on time. The Sonoma Plaza, filled with five-star cuisine was a great place for a first date.

After meeting with her date, the pair walked around downtown. Eventually Larson found her way into 7-Eleven with him. “He asked if I wanted anything. When I said no I would wait until we ate dinner, he looked shocked and said this is what we were doing for dinner,” she said.

Larson had never been taken to a 7-Eleven or some place cheap for a first date. “I laughed and asked if he was serious and when he answered yes I just walked away, “she said.

Larson did not return any of his calls and took a break from dating.

Alexandra Hyde, 23, a SRJC alumnus, had her worst Valentine’s Day a few years back.

Hyde decided to celebrate the special day with one of her good friends, Jessica.  She invited Jessica for dinner at her parents’ house, along with her brother and aunt. This was Jessica’s first time visiting her house and Hyde wanted to make sure things went smoothly.

Dinner was almost ready when her dad walked in and ripped a big fart, which caused them to run out to her porch gasping for air. Embarrassed that this happened in front of her friend, Hyde tried to make the best of the situation.

She thought the dinner couldn’t get any worse when a Valentine’s day porno started up on the HBO channel she had left on in the living room and could be seen from the window. “The porno was on and we couldn’t go into the house to turn it off,” she said.

Too embarrassed by the smell of her father’s fart, Hyde, her aunt, her brother and her friend were outside for 45 minutes until Hyde took one for the team and entered the house to turn it off.

Dinner continued and though Hyde was extremely embarrassed, it now is a story that is told every year with many laughs.

Gina Isi, SRJC alumnus, met her worst date through friends at a pizza parlor. At first he seemed like a normal guy. “He asked me on another date and said he would come to me [since] he lived in Hayward.” Isi said.

He drove to Isi’s house on his motorcycle. When he arrived, he requested something she didn’t expect; “He asked to take a shower,” Isi said. “My roommate at the time was home so I showed him where the bathroom was.”

Weirded out by his request, Isi wasn’t sure what to expect next.

“I heard the shower stop and he walks out butt-ass naked in front of both of us and asks for a towel,” she said.

Now that he was clean and freshly showered, their date began. They proceeded to a sushi place for some rolls and beers.

She had hoped that dinner and conversation would make up for the shower entrance. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

“He proceeds to completely psychoanalyze me and ask all these deep questions, ” she said.

She was relieved when the bill came, but surprised to find that her date had forgotten his wallet. After dinner he insisted on walking her home. When they got to her door, instead of thanking her for a great date, “He tells me he has to sleep over because he can’t drive because he had a glass of wine,” said Isi.

At this point Isi was fed up with his actions and told him no and wished him good luck.“A few days later I got a letter telling me that he had a great time and would love to see me again if I work out my issues!”

Isi had no further contact with this guy and took a break from dating after. 

Brandon Smith, 19, a Santa Rosa Junior College alumnus never had a valentine before, and then he met Crissy Beck.

For months Smith laid the foundation of friendship and prepared himself to ask her out. “We talked almost every day,” Smith said.

He was infatuated with her and head over heels. “I was enthralled,” he said.

He finally was able to muster his confidence and decided he would express his intentions on Valentine’s Day. He was fully equipped when Feb. 14 came around with a bouquet of flowers and a homemade card in hand.  “I felt like I had a shot at something that could change my high school career,” Smith said.

On that fateful February afternoon, Smith met his prospective valentine outside of their high school’s quad on their lunch break. He approached her, the eyes of many of their friends and peers looming as Smith opened his mouth and asked her to go out to dinner with him.  “Yes!” she said, and they hugged.

Smith was overjoyed. “This had never happened to me before,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier.”

The joy didn’t last for long. The next day he received a text from Beck saying she wasn’t going out with him and that she made a mistake and shouldn’t have said yes in the first place. Smith was crushed.

Suffice to say that was Smith’s worst Valentine’s Day memory. He and Beck don’t talk every day now.

Kenny Fielder learned during an awkward episode in January that Tinder is quite the box of surprises. It’s open to everyone and attracts a colorful array of users, many of them a little different in person than online.

The 20-year-old SRJC alumnus met a girl named Elise on Tinder, who seemed to share many of his interests.

They were both Jazz musicians studying in Boston and seemed to get along well.

“On Tinder she seemed pretty normal,” Fielder said.

They met at coffee shop for a less-than-promising first encounter.

“When I showed up I didn’t even recognize her,” Fielder said.

Elise had apparently misrepresented herself in her Tinder photos. “She looked like a whale,” he said.

It got weirder though, Fielder said. As soon as they started talking he realized she wasn’t really into music or anything else they had connected over online.

“She got really weird and nerdy,” Fielder said.

At one point she informed Fielder “she was a mere mortal.”

Feeling too guilty to leave, he stayed for over an hour of awkward silences and talk of her favorite Lord Of The Rings character, Treebeard.                                                                       

“I felt swindled and catfished,” Fielder said.

He’s wary of people he meets on Tinder now.

Namiko Morales, environmental studies major met her worst date three years ago. The 23-year-old first met Kevin at the coffee shop where she worked at the time.

The pair went out for Indian food at Morales’ favorite restaurant, Taste of the Himalayas. She was so nervous at the time she started asking him personal questions. “I asked him how often do you exercise, are you a vegetarian, oh you used to be a vegan and do you believe in God?” Morales said. “He thought I was weird.” 

After dinner Morales admitted that it became clear both of them were feeling awkward. “We got over the interrogation I gave him, and I thought, ‘whatever he’s hot,’” she said.

Unfortunately, things kept getting worse. After dinner Kevin suggested they go for a drink only to have Morales surprise him with the fact that she was only 19 and not yet old enough to drink. “He never asked me my age or anything and I was the one doing most of the questioning, even though I asked him about God and everything.”

Afterwards, the two decided to call it quits so he awkwardly leaned over to kiss her but she got nervous again and dodged the kiss. “I gave him a hug instead then drove him to his car,” she said.

But there is a silver lining. The pair went out again and have now been together for three years.

Ashley Harteis, a Santa Rosa Junior College alumnus, was working at Mary’s Pizza Shack in Sonoma six years ago where she met her worst date, a guy named Jeremy.

He invited her to a party that one of their co-workers was having for their first date.

“He offered to get me a drink and I remember it being so strong that I could only sip it,” Harteis said. “I actually ended up pouring most of it in his cup.

After what she felt was an uncomfortable amount of time, he asked her if she wanted to leave, but he was too drunk to drive.

“Jeremy was always a very socially awkward kind of guy, so taking me to this random party, with music blasting and girls popping in and out of the bathroom with obvious coke residue on their noses, was weird,” she said. “He had this crappy old Jeep Cherokee and asked me if I would drive us.”

After 20 minutes of adjusting the seat so she could reach the pedals, they drove away and he began directing her to what she thought was his house. When they reached their destination, she realized he had led them to an old empty parking lot in the middle of nowhere. “I got a little weirded out,” she said.

He then got out of the car and puked. Eventually they got back to his house and hung out until he was able to drive back to her car. The date made work a whole lot more interesting.