I have to say, splitting a restaurant bill has gotten way too complicated.
By @sashaee · Petty or Nah
Back in my day, you either split it down the middle or one person got the whole thing and someone else would get it next time. Now with all these apps and calculators, dinner with my younger relatives turns into a forensic accounting session. I think it's petty and rude.
The full story
I took my niece and her friends out for her birthday last weekend, my treat. But then the rest of the table—about six of them in their mid-20s—spent a solid fifteen minutes trying to split the remainder of the bill. It was an absolute production. Someone had Venmo, someone else had Zelle, another person was counting out exact cash for their $17.50 entree and their half of the appetizer. One of her friends got really granular, pointing out that she only had one glass of wine while another had two, and that her salad was cheaper than someone else's pasta. They were plugging everything into an app on their phone to figure out the exact amounts down to the cent, including a shared dessert. The conversation just stopped. Everyone was staring at their phone, sending tiny amounts of money back and forth. I remember just going out with friends and it being easy. We'd just throw our cards down and say 'split it evenly.' Or if someone was a little short, someone else would cover them, knowing it all comes out in the wash. This felt so... transactional. It took the warmth right out of the meal. I fianlly just got annoyed and put my card down for their part of the bill too, just to get it over with. They all looked at me funny, and my niece said I was being old-fashioned, but I felt like they were the ones being weird about it. It just feels like a less generous way to go about things.
How people voted
- Side A — 35% (35 votes)
- Both — 41% (41 votes)
- Side B — 24% (24 votes)
Readers are split: “Both” leads with 41% — 100 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@cantbelieveit — Why were you watching them split their own bill that closely anyway?
@idkman — It sounds like they were just trying to be financially responsible and you made it weird by paying their share without asking.
@karafr — If you invite people out, you should pick up the entire tab.
@auroralol — I'm with you, that sounds exhausting and stressful. A meal should be about enjoying each other's company, not auditing the receipt. You did a nice thing.
@remylately — wow dinner and a math competition.
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