Tonight we had a dinner to celebrate my friend's marriage last weekend. She got married civilly because in the life of a foreign service officer, in order to get the spouse on the orders, you must be married. So if your spouse is planning on moving with you, there are tons of things that will be necessary, which makes it easier for many to do a civil marriage, and then have the actual wedding later.
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| My choice this evening |
In any event, the wedding will be next year, and I have been asked to be a bridesmaid. Luckily, they are planning on having the wedding in DC where I will be located for training, so I can committ to being able to go now.
I only have one real comment to make about the dinner. I don't want people to read this as me being cheap, or complaining. I just want to state that people think that splitting a bill between everyone when you are in a large group is fair and also easier. In fact, in my experience, it is not. I won't say much more than that, because in this case it didn't bother me because I was covering the cost of my friends, but normally this is something I actively speak out against. Mainly because I don't drink alcohol, and alcohol quickly increases the cost of the bill. So, generally speaking (is this is talking from experience from the times when people have wanted to do this), if I let someone just split the bill evenly between everyone present, I would end up paying twice as much as what I actually ordered. I guess people assume that it evens out eventually, but not for someone like me.
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| Eating my food |
Anyway, that's all I have to say about that. We went to Maria Chuchena's, which is a place that Ulises loves. I got something different this time. It was better than last time, but I wasn't crazy about it. I liked the atmosphere more, though, because we were sitting on the terrace. They also had a mariachi band that played for us. It was a good evening.
2 comments:
Ah yes, the beer subsidy. I had a friend (also non drinker) who got tired of it once and ordered some type of appetizer to take home so it would even out a bit. We just kind of shrug it off most to the time but it can be frustrating because, like you said, it doesn't even out over time and it can add a ton to your bill.
Yeah, for me it tends to make me not want to go out to eat with people. Which isn't a good reaction. But I don't want to have to speak up each time and say, "ummm, sorry, but that doesn't work for me." It always causes a kind of awkwardness, but I'm not the kind of person that just shrugs it off. It would make it easier if people were just aware of that and didn't make the decision for everyone to split the bill. If they are set on that, they could ask people who want to pay their portion to put in that amount, and everyone else who just wants the easier way can split the difference.
However, even if we take the alcoholic beverages out of the picture, there are some people who just naturally order less food, and naturally order the lesser expensive items on the menu. I don't think it's fair to expect them to pay more for that food, just because we ordered 2 appetizers and the highest priced item on the menu. I don't think it is ever a fair way to handle the bill. But maybe that's just me.
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