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On the contrary, I find it removes social friction if you go out to eat relatively often. You can still buy rounds of drinks or pick up the tab; no one is stopp
by ndonnellan 9y ago
On the contrary, I find it removes social friction if you go out to eat relatively often. You can still buy rounds of drinks or pick up the tab; no one is stopping you from being generous.
In college I found it way more tedious to try and "keep-even" with classmates. Combine that with any sort of gossip around "they always shortchange" (maybe they're not good at tax+tip mental calcs), and I'm all for removing uncertainty from friendly transactions.
I most definitely do _not_ allow venmo to share my transaction to my social circle. That seems just silly.
- maaaats 9y agoYeah, I second that it removes friction. I hate the "lets split the bill evenly"-approach. It makes me feel like I leech of others if I want something expensive, and the other way around if I'm not very hungry but have to pay for everybody else having three courses.
- kurthr 9y agoYeah, they ought to use bill roulette (choose a penny out of the bill to choose who pays). You still get the jerk who doesn't tip, though.
- closeparen 9y agoWow. I tend to think of "not randomly destroying each other's finances" as a baseline criteria for friendship.
- kurthr 9y agoSometimes you don't go out and eat only with friends... However, like a potluck or dinner club, check roulette works great with groups you regularly eat with since it is distributed exactly according to the bill. I have groups that I eat with 30-50 times a year.
- Volt 9y agoCan't you just get your own bill then? I feel like so many people make this to be way more of a deal than it needs to be.
- Spivak 9y agoBecause the act of getting your own bill is a statement. It's no secret that you're doing it because Ted always adds a lobster tail to his steak. Or that you're doing it because you're going to order a water, no appatizers, and the Ruben because money is tight. Once you're outside of specific circles 'being broke' stops being a shared experience and it affects how people view you. The only time you might be able to get away with it is because you're going to order the 24oz sirloin and don't want to put that on other people. But that's a statement in a different direction and could come off as elitest or insulting. Pay for what you order lessens this awkwardness.