Woman Questions If She Has A Right To Be Angry After Going Out With Her Newly-Engaged Friends And Being Stuck With The Check
She explained that she wasn't under the impression that by agreeing to the dinner, she would be stuck with the bill.
Drazen Zigic / Shutterstock A woman has sparked a debate about the etiquette of splitting checks among friends after admitting that she was angered after going out to dinner with her newly-engaged friends.
In a TikTok video, Ebony Mackey, who makes content on social media with her partner, Jon Nelsen, shared that she and Nelsen were stuck in an "awkward and expensive" encounter.
Mackey claimed that her newly-engaged friends expected her and her partner to pay for their entire dinner meal.
"Storytime, because this has been bothering me for a few days," Mackey stated at the start of her video. "Jon and I went out with another couple last week."
Mackey explained that before going out, they had all been texting with each other and their newly-engaged friends were gushing about how happy they were to be going to dinner, and that it had been such a long time since they'd all hung out and were excited to celebrate their engagement.
On the day of their dinner, she and Nelsen arrived at the restaurant and their friends were 30 minutes late, but when they finally showed up, they were all escorted to their table where they ordered full meals, including drinks and appetizers.
"We're having a great night," Mackey said. "It's been about an hour, hour and a half. We all do a celebratory shot. And at the end of that, we're noticing, Jon and I are noticing, that the restaurant is starting to close."
Photo: Julia Kuzenkov / Pexels
Upon noticing that the patrons were starting to clear out and the staff were cleaning up, Mackey asked for the check. Once the waitress dropped it off at their table, Mackey noticed that the other couple was starting to act shifty.
Suddenly, the man in the other couple promptly got up and announced that he had to go to the bathroom. "I'm just like, are they going to try to stick us with a bill?" Mackey said, adding that Nelsen had kneed her under the table because he'd clocked the other couple's change in demeanor.
Eventually, her partner ended up grabbing the check after the man in the other couple was taking too long in the bathroom.
Mackey said after some time had passed, the woman in the other couple made no move to pick up the check, and her fiancé was still taking his time in the restaurant's bathroom. That's when Nelsen reached for the bill himself, which prompted the woman in the other couple to ask: "Oh, you're treating?"
"And Jon goes, 'I guess so,'" Mackey said. "And I'm sitting there like, what the [expletive]?"
Coincidentally, the man from the other couple chose that moment to emerge from the bathroom, and immediately noticed that Nelsen had grabbed the check and was planning on paying for everyone's meals. He even thanked Mackey's partner, and while Nelsen wasn't perturbed by what was happening, Mackey didn't feel the same way.
"I'm annoyed with her and I'm annoyed with him and I didn't say anything," she said. "And we wound up paying for their entire meal, plus their drinks, plus the tip."
In the comments section, many people were on Mackey's side and admitted that she had every right to be angry, especially since she didn't agree to the dinner with her friends under the impression that she and her partner would be paying for the entire bill.
Many people have opened up about being split on how to go about paying for group dinners.
In a survey conducted by GoBankingRates of how 1,000 Americans preferred to handle their check when dining in big groups, 41% said that they split the check depending on what each person ordered, another 41% said they would split the check evenly and the last 18% take turns covering the whole bill.
Similarly, a 2019 poll of 2,500 U.S. adults by Money Advisor found that 57% of Americans avoid talking about personal finances with their friends due to the difficulty and awkwardness that they feel about divulging details when it comes to money.
In situations like the one Mackey and her partner were involved in, it's important to speak up and have clear communication between friends.
Photo: Tima Miroshnichenko / Pexels
By choosing to openly discuss finances, even if it may seem like an inappropriate or tricky subject, friends can avoid being stuck in sticky instances of not knowing who should cover the bill or pay for what.
We're living in a time where prices for basic necessities are astronomical and it's almost impossible to buy a home or find an apartment where the rent isn't through the roof. The average person, especially young adults, are all in the same boat of trying to make ends meet and not drown in all of the expenses.
This means that we're all aware that times are tough and those things shouldn't get in the way of having a night out with our friends or going out to dinner.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.