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Furious debate erupted around the dinner table recently after a single mom’s TikTok about being shamed for not wanting to split a huge dinner bill when she only had a cheap meal, went viral.

Cash-strapped Aryan Strauss was asked to cough up $150 (R2,800) despite ordering just $25 (R475) worth of food, and as a single mother with only $48 (R900) in her account at the time, she did what any aggrieved dinner guest would do – run to TikTok.

The video of her trying to explain the evening has racked up almost 1.2 million views, proving that dinner-bill etiquette is as relevant today as it was when the last supper fiasco went viral in 33AD.

Strauss explained that she was invited to a friend’s birthday dinner at a Brazilian-style steakhouse. Her friend — a successful model — was the only person she knew at the dinner which was seemingly only attended by affluent guests, as according to her, one woman “flaunting her expensive new breast implants”.

“I order water and I order no dessert.”

The aggrieved lady managed to eat only $25 worth of food during the uncomfortable experience – her fillet mignon was ‘chewy’ and the waiter removed it from the bill – leaving only her friend’s meal, which she intended to cover. “I just got the basic $50 meal, so it should’ve been $25 tops.”

Strauss claims several of the guests also dined and dashed, obviously assuming that their dinner would be taken care of by their fellow affluent diners. The Foie gras hit the fan when the final bill arrived and the group expected her to pay a whopping $150 to cover those who did the dine-and-dash. Uncomfortable discussions ensued.

@remiandaryan I always ask before we even order how the bill will be handled or I dont order at all. #birthday #dinner #resturaunt #ettiquette #groupdinner #large #groups #fyp ♬ original sound – 🦕Raising Autistic🦖

Several commenters have pointed out that the lady should not have been out on the town in the first place when she was well aware that her finances were a mess, which most people can relate to, but Strauss’s experience begs the question of whether budget needs to be discussed before you head out with the Joneses, or whether a dinner tab should be split evenly at all.

Opinion on this issue is as varied as a Spur menu, but it would seem like a topic that should at least be broached before anyone’s order is taken. Fairness would dictate that each pay their own, with a percentage tip allocated according to your total – call it proportional splitting –  but this depends on your dinner guests and the establishment.

Presumption and poverty are never good dinner fellows, so casually asking, “How are we paying?” should not be controversial. Strauss would agree.

“I was the bad guy in this situation. Never sit down to dinner with anybody, friend or otherwise, unless you’ve already talked about how it’s getting split, and what your budget is if you’re all going to split the bill evenly.”

We get the idea that this is the last supper Strauss will be invited to by her model friend with the fake-breasted besties.

Keeping up with the Joneses can be difficult – unless they offer to cover the whole tab, in which case, slowly put away your wallet, and at least attempt to look sincere when you ask “Are you sure?”

[source:nypost]