Last night was our big night out with the Neighborhood Badasses.
Next time, we'll bring a calculator.
Let me preface this by saying that I love me a night out. And I love to go out to eat, especially at certain restaurants. And since Joey and I were raised in families where food is an important part of getting together with family and friends, we always welcome the idea of getting together with other people to break bread and all that jazz. So when we were invited to join the NB's for a night out to celebrate one of the husbands' birthdays, we were totally stoked.
Most of us live within a block or two of each other - and our kids all go to the same preschool and have been in the same class forever. So The Girls all got to know each other and we go out every few months for dinner or drinks or just hanging out, the kids have occasional playdates, stuff like that. Some of the husbands hang out too, but this was Joey's first foray into the world of the NB's so he was interested to see what everyone was like.
The decision was made to go to Fleming's, but the way the invitation was extended was that it was Harry's birthday and would we like to join them for dinner? We thought it was one other couple going along when in reality there were two other couples and then one other person. Now, we never ever assumed that Harry's wife would be picking up the bill - as a matter of fact, we brought cash to pay for our portion of the dinner.
Dinner was great. Everyone was splitting appetizers and sides, the booze was flowing and everyone was having a nice time.
And then the bill came. And things went rapidly downhill.
Two people actually pulled calculators out. Joey, who runs numbers for a living, quickly estimated our portion of the bill and tip and forked the money out. There was a lot of wailing and teeth gnashing going on, and when it all came down somehow the bill was $100 short. We asked the money collecting member of the group if they needed more, and we were told "You guys are fine, you've given exactly what you needed to."
I've been in this position before in a large group. And you know what that means - someone isn't paying their fair share. And you sure as hell can't get anyone to fess up to it without looking like an asshole.
So in the end, Joey and another one of the husbands forked over more money to make the difference disappear. As we drove home, I was obsessing over what could've gone wrong. And by this morning, Joey was obsessing too. Even rounding up on everything we had ordered only made us about $10 off on our portion, so it was evident that someone at that table totally fucked us.
See, I hate that shit. Especially because these are professional, educated people that live in big houses, drive nice cars, and are what I would call comfortable. Everyone knew where we were going, all of them had eaten there at one point or another in their lives, and they knew how much it was going to cost. So why be a dick about it?
Considering that there were nine people at the table and Joey ended up paying for a highly significant chunk of the bill himself, we seriously got bent over. Will we do anything with them again? I'm not sure, but if we do I'm sure as hell not going to be shy about asking for separate checks or busting out a calculator when the check comes.
Dinner was great, but damn if I can't get this bitter taste out of my mouth.
9 comments:
Ouch! I thought that only happened when women went out to eat. Sorry it ruined your good time.
I hate, hate, hate that. I once worked with a guy named Henry who had such a well known reputation for being short on his share that my co-workers warned me about him during the first day of orientation. He thought it was ok to just pay for his entree - not the tax, tip, drink or shared appetizers. In the end, he was almost never asked to join us for lunch and on the few times he did join us we always specified payment method up front.
Any chance your neighbors were just drunk and oblivious? I much prefer that to cheapskate.
So who do you suspect is the thief?
Hot Lips
i really hate that shit, too. that's the reason why i stopped going to lunch with the ladies at my last firm unless it was a place where separate checks were okay. i got sick of buying other people lunch.
I would have obsessed about it, too. Somebody really did bend y'all over.
I am sure you will find out over time who it was. Then you must share...
Today I was the lunch fetcher, I ended up having to toss in an extra $2.00 cause one or more of the fellas see the $4.99 sandwich price and plop down a 5. Hello. Tax and such. I personally round up to the nearest buck to cover tax and trouble of the fetcher.
That is not to say that I have not came back with $5.00 extra and no one wanted change. So we have our good days and bad days. Sorry that you had a bad one.
Bleh. Mister's cousin has done this innumerable times at family meals. Usually, he doesn't tip, which makes the rest of us look like assholes. What a shitty position for your neighbors to put their neighbors in.
I thought this only happened with groups of women... heh...
Hmmm, who do we think did it?
What I think may have happened (now that I've had some more time to think about it) is that at least two of the other couples didn't include their portion of the tip in there. That would account for a $100 shortage.
I'd rather think that than that someone was an asshole. Or maybe I'm just totally naive or in denial.
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