We've started getting charged a cancellation fee for bailing on lunch plans.
By @benkinda · Friends
I'm in college and me and my friends always make plans to get lunch between classes. Lately people have been flaking last minute, so one person suggested we start charging a $5 'cancellation fee' if you bail less than an hour before. I thought it was a joke but it's real.
The full story
so i'm in my junior year of college and have a pretty tight friend group. we've got a group chat where we plan stuff, and the most common thing is getting lunch. it's hard with everyone's class schedules to get a time that works, so when we finally lock one in, it's annoying when people bail. lately it's been happening a lot. like, we'll have a reservation for 6 and then 10 minutes before we're supposed to meet, two people will text the chat like 'omg sorry buried in homework can't make it.' it messes up the table and is just kinda rude. so the other day my friend in the group chat said 'new rule: if you cancel less than an hour before, you have to venmo the group $5.' we all laughed, but she was dead serious. she said it's not about the money, it's about making people commit so we're not constantly changing plans or getting screwed on reservations. i thought it was a bit much but whatever. then yesterday i had a ton of work to do for a midterm and had to bail on a lunch plan about 30 mins before. i get a venmo request for $5 from her for 'bailing.' now i feel like it's gone from a friend group to a business transaction. it's only $5 but it feels weird and formal. am i being dramatic or is this a crazy rule?
How people voted
- Bad Move — 34% (22 votes)
- Needs Context — 32% (21 votes)
- Reasonable — 34% (22 votes)
Readers are split: “Bad Move” leads with 34% — 65 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@ava — Definitely cooked.
@sageok — My fantasy baseball league does this for last place and it gets WAY more expensive. $5 is nothing.
@shoulda — nah this is a great idea i wish my friends did this
@niayy — lmao
@codyagain — That would rub me the wrong way too. It's one thing to be annoyed, it's another to start sending invoices.
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