A woman has been branded "cheap" by her date for not paying for a dinner that she organised - as they said it's her responsibility to foot the bill as the person who made the first move.
The 33-year-old woman explained in a post online that she asked a mutual friend on a dinner date and decided to take the 29-year-old woman to an "above average" restaurant, where they each ordered a drink and a main course.
But when the time came to pay for the food, the woman only paid for her share of the bill - leaving her date "shocked" that she hadn't offered to pay for everything.
Although her date didn't say anything at the time, the woman's friends have since contacted her to tell her she was wrong for not paying the whole bill, especially as she was the one who invited the other woman on a date in the first place.
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In her post on Reddit, she said: "I am bisexual and I asked out a woman I have mutual friends with. We had both been displaying interest, but I did the actual ask. For our date, we went for dinner to a slightly above-average restaurant. My dinner bill, including a $7 (£5.80) tip, was $35 (£29) - not sure what hers was. We both ordered a soda and a main course.
"It was a nice meeting and I liked her, but there was no romantic spark and we had verbally confirmed this with each other. When it came time to pay, I paid my share of the bill, and she looked shocked that I wasn't paying her bill, but she didn't say anything.
"Now I've heard from a mutual friend that she told them I was a jerk and cheap for not paying the bill after I asked her out to a 'fancy' place. Furthermore, she said it pressed her financially to have to pay for a date she assumed was taken care of when she was asked out."
The woman said she never pays for first dates unless she can come to an "agreement" with her potential suitor, such as them footing the bill for a second date if they decide they want to see each other again.
But her friends have told her that she should have discussed payment plans before going out so that everyone was on the same page ahead of time.
She added: "This woman and I are both full-time employed, though I likely do make more than her, guessing by our professions. We never got to the point of discussing salaries. We are both women.
"I don't let people pay for me on dates, and I don't typically pay for first dates unless we come to some kind of agreement like them covering the second date. I really prefer just to split on date one to not have expectations, and that's what I did here.
"However, my friend is telling me that getting a reputation as a 'cheap jerk' is a bad thing, and eating the occasional extra charge to not appear this way will make me appear better socially. My friend says it is an a**hole move to ask anyone out and not offer to pay, but that seems to be holding me to standards I don't hold men to and standards that I don't personally agree with.
"We did not discuss who would pay before going out."
Commenters were split over who was in the right in the situation, as while many agreed that the woman should have specified she wanted to split the bill before going on the date, they also said that it was wrong of her date to assume that she would be paying for everything.
One person said: "You did ask her out and you probably should have specified you wanted to split the cheque beforehand, but at the same time, it's always bad to assume the other person is paying."
While another added: "There is nothing inherently wrong with splitting the cheque. Having said that: if you invite someone out to dinner, then common courtesy dictates that if your intention is to split the bill, you say so right up front."
And a third wrote: "It’s not unreasonable to think the person who asked will be paying, so if your stance is to always split the bill on the first date (which is absolutely fine), you ought to clearly state that as your personal rule before the first date."
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