There's nothing quite as soul-soothing as joining your friends for dinner and drinks when you're in need of some advice or a good laugh. Most people love to share gossip over a few dishes and a cocktail or two, but sometimes ordering food at a restaurant can prove tricky if you're not sharing equally, as you can end up being lumped with a hefty sum to pay if your pals don't offer to split it more evenly.
One woman has been left 'confused' and 'feeling dumb' after her friend insisted that they split a pricey £73 bill between the two of them at an 'expensive' restaurant, despite the woman only eating one dish throughout the meal and the friend deliberately ordering plenty so she could 'take some home for leftovers'.
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The debacle has caused awkward tension between the pair, but despite the woman trying to politely suggest that she pays less to stay in line with what she actually ate, the friend pressured her into forking out the cash.
Taking to Reddit to explain her conundrum, the woman, who remains anonymous, said: "My friend (20f) and I (20f) went to eat dinner at a Korean restaurant. She picked the place and I drove both of us there. During the drive, she talked about the dishes she wanted to order and mentioned how she was going to order 3 dishes so she could take home the left overs.
"I said that I didn’t look at the menu beforehand, so I was planing [sic] on deciding at the restaurant. So we get there and seat down at a table. Right when we sit down and the waitress asks us for drinks, my friend goes ahead and says her orders before I even have the chance to look at the menu.
"Then waitress then looks at me, expecting me to also know my order. I was so caught off guard and panicked I said the only Korean food that came to mind (which they had thank god).
Confused as to why her pal ordered so quickly, the woman added: "I don’t know how expensive the food is here and since I’m a college student, price is an important factor in choosing. I thought this was weird but I let it go.
When the food arrived, the woman kept to her one dish and her pal enjoyed her three others. While the Reddit poster did say she ate 'one shrimp out of like 12' from her friend's food, the pal also ate some of the woman's single dish, meaning things were not equal.
"Usually, with my other friends, we would share all the food with each other and split the bill. But I had a feeling that this friend would make me pay, so I didn’t touch anymore of her food.
Things got worse from there, the college student's hunch about her pal's dining habits proved to be true: "The total was $73 (£65), which is really expensive for a casual dinner with two people.
"Keep in mind we’re both college students, so we don’t have a lot of money. All three of my friend’s dishes were close to $20 (£18) [each] while mine was the cheapest at $15 (£13).
"My friend first suggests that we split the price of her three dishes and I pay for my order. I was taken aback because why would I end up paying more when she ordered three dishes and I only ordered one".
The friend didn't take the woman's hints when it came to paying, as she explained: "I hesitated and told her that I would pay for my meal and split the price of the tteobokki. I repeated this twice but it was like she never heard it because she then suggests that we just split the total price in half".
Tensions rose further when the friend sneakily didn't pitch in for the tip they both suggested: "We agreed on tipping 12% which would make the total $82 (£73). After discussing the tip, she takes the recipe [receipt] and quickly cashapps me $36 (£32), which is half the price before adding the tip!!!".
The woman admitted in her post that she doesn't like 'confrontation', but felt completely blindsided by her friend's actions, as she continued: "At this point, I feel like I’m going crazy because we just talked about the tip and here she is completely ignoring it.
"I reluctantly went up to the front desk and paid thinking “why am I paying this much when I only had one dish?” “Did I not communicate this to her?".
People took to the comments section to share their opinions on the friend's demands, with one writing: "I hope you are going to get her out of your life completely. She sounds horrible. She is a user, not a friend".
Another said: "It's time to quit hanging out with her. If you do find yourself out with her tell the waiter/waitress that you will be on separate bills when you are ordering.
"Eat your food and don't touch hers so that she can't complaint that you owe her. Don't let yourself be pushed into something that will leave you angry".
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