She Refused To Pay For Her Friend’s Dinner After She Ordered More Expensive Things On The Menu
Friendship is supposed to be give and take, but she’s starting to feel like it’s just take. What used to be a fun, no-drama dinner tradition with her closest friends has slowly turned into a one-sided tab.
After politely setting a boundary about only covering her own meal, she stuck to it. And now one friend is icing her out, claiming she was humiliated and disrespected.
But after picking up the slack one too many times, she’s left wondering—was she wrong for finally drawing the line, or just wrong for not doing it sooner?
Last weekend, this 28-year-old woman went out to dinner with her friends, 27-year-old Jenna and 29-year-old Ashley.
They’ve been extremely close for the last several years, and they get together at least once a month to go out to eat and spend time together.
Previously, she and the girls would split their checks evenly, as they typically ordered food and drinks of similar prices, making it fair.
“But lately, Ashley has gotten into this habit of ordering way more than everyone else. She gets apps, drinks, and desserts, and still expects us to divide the check by three,” she explained.
“The last time we went out, she ordered a full extra entrée ‘for lunch tomorrow’ and still wanted to split things evenly.”
“So this time, I told both of them ahead of time that I would only pay for what I ordered. I wasn’t rude about it. I literally said, ‘Hey, just a heads up, I’m going to ask for a separate check this time since I’m on a tighter budget this month.’ They both said, ‘No problem.'”
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When dinner was over and the bill arrived at their table, Ashley pretended to be puzzled that she only paid for what she ordered.
In a whisper, Ashley mentioned she figured they would split it three ways, since that had become a tradition among them.
She pointed out to Ashley that she had brought up doing separate checks, and Ashley responded that she was tight on money and wanted her to pay for her share. She promised to pay her back later.
“The thing is, she has said that before, and I have never seen that money again. So I said, ‘Sorry, I can’t this time,’ and she got really cold,” she added.
“She Venmo requested Jenna the rest and barely talked to either of us on the way home. Now I am getting texts from her saying things like, ‘It’s not about the money, it’s the way you handled it,’ and, ‘You embarrassed me.'”
“Jenna thinks I could have just covered it this time and brought it up later, but I am tired of being the fallback wallet. Am I the [jerk] for refusing to spot her after I warned them in advance?”
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