we went out with a large group last night...only 4 people of which we know or are actually friends with. The evening started out with a fun activity of "trampolining" and then dinner afterwards.
Some friends had been to this place before for a birthday party and decided it would be fun for the parents too. It was. Once I overcame my inhibitions and started getting into it I had a great time.
Then dinner happened. The group decided on some Italian restaurant- so that was problem number one for me. I really don't like Italian food, I have a really hard time deciding on what to eat and then whatever I do order is never to my satisfaction. In my opinion ordering pasta seems like such a waste of money as I can likely make the same thing at home for 1/5th the price. But that is not really the problem I am annoyed about..the problem is the plague of the large group and paying the bill.
I knew we should have asked for separate bills upon ordering our meals when a few of the couples ordered wine, salad, appetisers and dessert afterwards. We just had our basic meals. When the bill arrived we payed our portion, which was approximately $35. One of the members of the party suggested splitting the bill equally among everyone, this would have been $55 per couple. In my opinion and in the opinion of our close friends (who happened to be the couple we were sitting next to) this was completely ridiculous and unfair to those who didn't order all the "extras".
This has always been a beef of mine. Splitting the bill equally among a group when some have obviously ordered much more than others just seems completely wrong- especially when this plan was not discussed ahead of time. Some in the party were obviously annoyed that I refused to split the bill equally but I really didn't care and didn't want to be bullied into paying twice what I actually owed.
I actually was so annoyed by this whole matter that I left the restaurant without bothering to say good-bye to anyone other than my "real" friends. I figured that I had never met the others before and likely would never see them again so let them think I am a bitch :)
Now that i have this off my chest I feel much better...I also want the hear what you all think of this type of situation.
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Oh, I feel the same way as you do. That would annoy me too. I find it incredibly unfair to have to split the bill evenly when some people order a lot more (and more expensive items!). We used to have that problem a lot when I taught in Japan. The way they do things there is they ALWAYS split the bill evenly amongst everyone. Sucks when you don't have lots of money and everyone else orders more expensive dishes and drinks and dessert...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I hear ya on this one.
thanks for the comment and especially for agreeing with me!! I forgot that they used to do that too in Korea...i guess paying for what you order is a North American thing- and IMO the most fair way to go!
ReplyDeleteI was seething when we left the restaurant and could barely talk about anything else the whole ride home! i am so happy that most of the people there i'll never have to see again!!
Trampolining sounds fun, and OI agree with you too about dinner. When we order regular meals without alcohol or dessert, part of the reason is to save money to be honest...so I'd be pissed if I then felt like it had back-fired! If I want to pay for drinks and dessert, it'll be our own drinks and dessert!
ReplyDeleteYes, I totally agree with you and Fancy. If I want to pay for drinks and dessert, then I'll order drinks and dessert. Like, hello!!?! There's a reason we didn't order drinks and dessert...and if we didn't order drinks and dessert, it means we didn't want to pay for drinks and dessert. Whoa...sorry for the rant! LOL!
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