Going Dutch

I was recently at a restaurant with about 20 people for a social outing. This was a lot of fun and the food was good. The few of us that got there early had decided to order a few pitchers of margaritas for ourselves and those that would be coming. The waiter was trying to figure out how to do the billing for us. There was a lot of back and forth and the thought was that all the drinks were going to be on one bill and then everyone would chip in. Well it turned out that they went on some peoples bills and we were to "chip in" for them.

Now I am all for making the waiters life easier and we should have been a little more clear about what we thought was going on, but we were not. As a result I was stuck with a $20 pitcher of margaritas on my bill. I had a glass and maybe a half out of "my" pitcher which serves about 5 people. I think all told we had 7 pitchers across the table. As we were paying bills, some people "chipped in" money and called it even. Some asked, "How much do I owe you?" and I don't know if some even gave money.

This irks me because chipping in $2 (actual amount seen coming from a wallet) for a margarita is a far cry from fair for those that were chosen by the waiter to front the bill. I did have one person actually ask, how much? and put the proper amount it. All told though, I think the ones that got stuck with the bill maybe got $5-$10 paid to them. That means we fronted the other $10 a piece plus tax and tip. You do the math.

The point I am trying to make here is if you put in all on one bill, that works fine for 4 to maybe 6 people, if you really know them all. Otherwise ask for a separate check, ask how much if something was if you split a bottle of wine or an appetizer. The problem with "I'll just give you cash" is that people rarely take into account tax and then tip. I don't think it's on purpose, but it can add up especially in large groups. I have felt like more than half of the time I have put in on a card and gotten money for it, people came up short. I honestly hope I have never done that to someone, but I rarely have the cash on hand to give anyway.

The lesson, just go dutch or be sure to be responsible for all costs you are sharing on a bill. It's just good etiquette.