S'mee wrote:

> > I'm like you, but on a couple occasions I ordered what I wanted, went
> > to pay, and suddenly discovered someone thought he was the host and
> > insisted on paying for all of us. Come to think of it, it was always my
> > husband's family, who we will no longer see for various reasons. They
> > would pay and get all snarky when looking at the bill, but refuse to let
> > me pay for my own food.
>
> Some of these stories are just weird! Not that I'm doubting the
> word of the story-teller, but it constantly amazes me how petty
> and strange people can be...

It does seem to do weird things to people. I split the bill based on my
relationship with the people I am with. If I am out with my wife, she pays or
I pay. There are some people that I take out occasionally, son and his
girlfriend, sisters in law, aunts and uncles, and I treat. If we are out with
good friends we usually just split the bill evenly. If I had something a lot
more expensive than the others I would pay more. In most other situations I
prefer separate bills or to just pay for what I ordered. I don't see anything
petty about that and don't see what anyone would have to object to with that.
It's not like it is going to cost them.

I worked on the road for close to 30 years and ate lunches, dinners and coffee
breaks in restaurants with a lot of different co-workers. I ran into my share
of tight wads, who even though they were claiming more on their expense
accounts than they actually paid, would try to get away with paying less than
their share.

We had one co-worker who was notorious for ordering large meals and having no
money to pay for them, and not telling us until it was time to pay. It got to
the point where we made him check his wallet to make sure he could afford to
pay for his own. He got me once when we went out for lunch. I had the $2.75
lunch special, soup, fries, sandwich and coffee. It was a great deal, and
really good food. He ordered fish and chips with extra fish, soup, a large soft
drink and a sundae. His bill came close to $10, and he had no money. I ended
up paying for his lunch, which cots 3 times as much as mine. He claimed it on
his expense account, and despite several requests for repayment, he never did
pay be. I was down $10 and he ended up $10 and a meal ahead.

Needless to say, the next time he was short at the cash register I didn't have
the money to cover his bill.