‘I ordered 2 appetizers and 2 main dishes': Broke intern over-orders at the work lunches to prove a point about splitting the bill evenly, coworkers get the memo after weeks of paying $40+ for someone else's food

Advertisement
  • 01
    "I have been ordering food worth $40+ now... and everyone's share has gone up"
  • 02
    Why force me to share the bill, when I wasn't sharing the food? I started working with a new team and they had the practice of going out for lunch every Friday. I was new to the Job and I know
  • 03
    my pay was way lower than everyone else (and months later I realized I was paid unfairly low and I quit at the worst possible time as a revenge for a better paying Job). I had loans to pay off, and was also at the beginning of my career. Hence was pretty calculative of my spending.
  • 04
    Coming to the main story here, I was invited to the join the Friday lunches and I liked it as well. But, one thing that bugged me the most was, the bill was split equally. The reason it was a problem for me was, I was the only vegetarian in the group.
  • 05
    Everyone else used to eat only non-vegetarian food and would order multiple appetizers, main course etc and share amongst themselves. I, on the other hand would just order for me, one appetizer & one main dish.
  • 06
    They would take pieces from my appetizer & portions from my main dish as well to "taste it", and many days I would leave the restaurant still feeling little bit hungry. Also, I was paying more than what I had even ordered.
  • 07
    Usually, I used to order food totaling about $15 and with tip it would be less than $18 (this was more than a decade back). But when we split the overall bill, I usually ended u paying $23 - $25, and worst of all I was not even getting to eat what I ordered.
  • 08
    So, one day I subtly brought up the idea of separate bills or at least let me pay for what I order. Most of them ignored what I said and the 2 who responded, shot down my idea immediately saying I was ridiculous.
  • 09
    So, that day I ordered 2 appetizers instead of 1. The next week, I ordered 2 appetizers and 2 main dishes, and at the end of the lunch I packed up the remaining veg food & took home for my dinner. The week after, I tossed in a dessert in the mix &
  • 10
    asked the server to pack one of the veg main dishes straight in a to-go box. This is when their alarm bells started ringing. I have been ordering food worth $40+ now (inc tips) and since it was getting mixed with the bigger pool, everyone's share had gone up to upper $20s.
  • 11
    On the 4th week, when I was about to order, one of the guys who called my idea ridiculous suggested separate bills for veg & non-veg food. That day, I ordered 2 appetizers & 1 main dish. I think that sent a message.
  • 12
    I invited everyone to taste the appetizer and offered my main dish as well. I left the lunch feeling full and not having any to- go boxes. In the weeks following, slowly the split concept was gone &
  • 13
    everyone started paying just for what they ordered. They would split the cost only for appetizers they shared. Everyone ended up paying less than what they usually paid, as everyone was ordering more than needed as they assumed, since the bill is split equally, they were getting to pay less. But this fails when everyone was doing the same.
  • 14
    macabronsisimo When they sense that they are subsidizing your food, is when the idea of splitting the bill is no longer ridiculous.
  • 15
    0001ktjdtyjjfgn Nice move! Sometimes people need a dose of their own medicine to see the light.
  • 16
    -inertusername- Smart! Well done! We went to a fancy place with a big rich family one time just to be social. It was way out of our league and we ordered very conservatively because of finances, and when the bill came it was split equally, which came as a total shock to me. I think our bill would have been $60, but we ended up paying $130. I was too young and inexperienced with such things to say something. That still makes me livid to think about.
  • 17
    Anustart15 Based on their response, it seems more like they realized she was still upset about the fact that they didn't want to have separate bills after spending 4 weeks being more and more passive aggressive about it. Otherwise they wouldn't have done the veg vs non-veg thing. They are all still fine splitting evenly amongst themselves
  • 18
    Lumpy Marsupial_1559 Nah, mate. They were happy to have the newbie subsidise their meals and eating the vegetarian foods on top of their own meals. It only became an issue for them when they started subsidising the newbie's meals.
  • 19
    Alarming_Oil_6226 To quote Mystery Men: when we split the cheque three ways the steak-eater picks the pocket of the salad-man.
  • 20
    myatoz I will never understand this concept. no, I'm only paying for what I ordered. Us older folks don't do this
  • 21
    Kinae66 I've never had this problem joining colleagues for lunch. As soon as the server looks to me for my order, I tell them I need a separate bill. I never eat the 'shared' appetizers. Easy-peasy.
  • 22
    Forward Nothing5979 This is the way. Avoids the awkward conversation later. I also do not let anyone try or share my food. I say no, I don't touch yours you don't touch mine.

Tags

Scroll Down For The Next Article