anyone else hate communist dining?

[EvilYoda]

Paying exactly what you owe is considered tacky?

No, but having them split it into separate checks is. Although, even really nice establishments have asked if we wanted separate checks, which usually indicates that it's easily broken up in their system.

As for the OP's instance...I've never had a group that consisted of friends-of-friends go ahead and split up the bill w/o establishing that beforehand. Then again, I typically avoid large parties where there are too many people that don't belong to the "core" group of friends.

 

[hanoverphist]

the server gave the check to the person who made the original reservations, who credit card'd it and just kinda announced "it works out to about $60 a person"; it seemed like it'd probably be off-putting to make a whole thing about it.

id have been the guy saying "howd that work out?" and pay for what i got. there are some people i go out with on occasion that drink a lot while we have dinner. they know they are paying for the extra, and always overpay anyway. splitting the bill works ouot when everyone got about the same thing tho. when i go out with my mom and my kids, ill just pick up the check since 4/5 of the cost was my kids and me. sometimes she picks the whole thing up too, which is way cool for me.

 

[GeekDrew]

we never do separate checks because it's considered to be kinda tacky/cheap

perhaps i'm tacky/cheap, but i've never heard this before, ever, anywhere

 

[PepePeru]

perhaps i'm tacky/cheap, but i've never heard this before, ever, anywhere

yeah no shit. I'd rather be considered "tacky and cheap" than pay 60 bucks for some soup and coffee and if my friends wanted to make an issue about it, I'd promptly find new ones to dine with.

 

[nageov3t]

perhaps i'm tacky/cheap, but i've never heard this before, ever, anywhere

maybe it's a jersey thing (like no one giving gifts at weddings, just money).

the only time I've ever gotten separate checks was in college when going out to eat with poor/cheap friends.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Usually just split the portion that I ordered..

 

[werepossum]

we never do separate checks because it's considered to be kinda tacky/cheap... usually, when I go out to eat with friends, bill splitting is in the form of everyone contributing what they feel they owe + tip

Were you the only one with a similarly small portion of the bill? Hopefully in a good group everyone puts in a little more than their share and the server(s) get a really nice tip, but if alcohol is involved the difference can really add up, to the point that feelings get hurt. I too do not want to subsidize someone's drinking or even expensive dining, and more importantly I do not want to subsidize someone's drinking or expensive dining without even being considered. A few bucks here and there are no big deal, but paying three times or more your share is wrong.

I'd probably laugh it off and say "Since I just paid $60 for soup and coffee you are all now my bitches."

 

[Turin39789]

that is assinine. split the damn check like a normal person

 

[Capt Caveman]

maybe it's a jersey thing (like no one giving gifts at weddings, just money).

the only time I've ever gotten separate checks was in college when going out to eat with poor/cheap friends.

Should just had the balls to throw in $10-15 and if anyone said anything, just tell them that's all you ordered.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

Fuck that, I would never split the bill when all I had was some coffee and soup. People should pay their own bills.

 

[ShawnD1]

That reminds me though...a while ago, we had dinner with another couple (wife's friends). When the bill came, the wife in the other couple took the bill and started splitting it up. In the end, per her calculation, we owed a few dollars and some change more than them. I gave my wife a look but we didn't say anything. It just made them look bad, and they'll forever be seen as cheap in my eyes. We've seen them a few times afterwards, and when I see them, I always think about that bill that they split up. Im not sure what they were thinking.....

You mean I need to pay for what I consume? What is this bullshit? I should get to split the bill evenly and totally fuck them over for absolutely no reason!

 

[bunnyfubbles]

the server gave the check to the person who made the original reservations, who credit card'd it and just kinda announced "it works out to about $60 a person"; it seemed like it'd probably be off-putting to make a whole thing about it.

no, you punch that person in the face

 

[Udgnim]

don't think I've ever participated in communist dining

have had one person pay the bill though and everyone figure out a rough estimate of their food cost and pay that estimate back to the paying person

 

[ShawnD1]

Has anyone else noticed by now that the people trying to split the bill equally are always trying to screw someone over? It's never the designated driver saying it and it's never the guy who ordered a coffee and soup.


Waitress: The bill is $80. How will you be paying?
Fat Alcoholic: I think we should split the bill. It'll work out in the end.
Normal Person: But you ate twice as much as me and you drank $20 worth of margaritas
Fat Alcoholic: OMG U R TEH CHEAP!

 

[Howard]

if everything is within a dollar then splitting evenly works ok.

anyone have that one dick who always took the extra dollar that ends up in the tip because everyone rounded up?

There's always the guy who chips in last because everybody tends to put in a little more than what they really owe...

 

[Oil]

maybe it's a jersey thing (like no one giving gifts at weddings, just money).

the only time I've ever gotten separate checks was in college when going out to eat with poor/cheap friends.

I think it might be. That always happens to my dad when hes up there and he goes out to dinner/drinks with his high school friends

 

[bignateyk]

If you're ever in a large group of people, and you let them pay for what they owe, IT ALWAYS COMES UP SHORT. Without fail. Every time. I always put at least $10 more than what I owe so people don't think it's me who is being the cheapskate.

I hate dividing up a bill in any fashion, but just splitting it is a hell of alot easier assuming everyone is within a few $$ of each other.

 

[FoBoT]

now that restaurants have computer point of sale systems, this shouldn't be as big a deal to just have everyone pay for their own crap, unless the wait person is a computer moran

 

[Via]

What krunchykrome said. Someone in the group should have said, very casually, "well, ______ only had a soup and coffee so $10 is more than enough for him."

I agree with this. If your friends had any class at all at least one of them would have taken care of it for you and not put you in the position of having to make an issue of it.

 

[fleshconsumed]

Splitting doesn't work for me. I do not drink alcohol and most of the times I ask for water with my meal, I'm also on the skinny side meaning I usually order a small/medium sized dish, no full dinners. Most of the times my meals come out to $10-11 including tip. I'd be annoyed if I had to constantly subsidize others. Luckily that's not the case and we always ask for separate checks or everyone just throws what they owe in one pile. I don't see anything wrong with that, it's not that hard to figure out your own portion of the bill.

 

[lurk3r]

Actually in your case the best way in this case would be to say "I didn't drink, here's $20"

With my group its usually the opposite problem, we've had a $25 tip on a $60 bill.

 

[Anonemous]

Carry cash or ask to split the check. If none of these work just tell the guy who paid you'll pay him back later what you owe+tip.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

thats the other thing, If i was in that party, I would insist that the OP only pay for soup/drink. Someone should have said something and been more considerate.

That reminds me though...a while ago, we had dinner with another couple (wife's friends). When the bill came, the wife in the other couple took the bill and started splitting it up. In the end, per her calculation, we owed a few dollars and some change more than them. I gave my wife a look but we didn't say anything. It just made them look bad, and they'll forever be seen as cheap in my eyes. We've seen them a few times afterwards, and when I see them, I always think about that bill that they split up. Im not sure what they were thinking.....

I can say for certain they were thinking the same thing about you. Cheap bastards that wouldn't pay a little more to even up the bill.

 

[Mill]

WTF are you people talking about? I've never had this occur to me in the U.S. or any other country. Either you get separate checks, pay for everything (and they get it next time), or you divvy it up when the check gets there. Why the fuck would you just take the total and divide it by the number of people? That is bullshit.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

now that restaurants have computer point of sale systems, this shouldn't be as big a deal to just have everyone pay for their own crap, unless the wait person is a computer moran

Clearly, you're not familiar with food service software.

Next to healthcare, food service has the worst software on the planet. It is very likely that splitting up a ticket after the fact (I say after because it will be extremely difficult to get 6 or more separate orders out of the kitchen at the same time) will require the wait staff to accurately remember each persons order (no cut and paste) and then go through roughly 6 screens for each order while attempting to wait on other tables.

It can be done but is a real time waste and pain in the ass. Not to mention, the other wait staff getting pissed off because they have to wait to use the terminal.

None of this is of concern to the guest but, that is why restaurants avoid separate tickets like the plague.