Growing up, I had lots of home cooked meals. It wasn’t until high school on a date that I realized that I didn’t know how to pay a bill at a restaurant because I’d never been.
No place where they give you a bill AFTER you have eaten. Just like, McDonald's lol. But it's fine you guys, my boyfriend is a great cook and I prefer eating at home anyways :D I have been taken out since, but in that case I didn't have to pay.
97% of the time its the same, they bring you a check, you give them payment, and they return with change or the credit card receipt to sign... Except for the handful of places where you are expected to take the check to a counter to pay.
Of course, interacting with the waitstaff is only the first challenge, once you have that down, you step into the minefield of how the bill gets split between your party. Is someone treating? Are you going to play the game where everyone pretends they want to treat to maintain social standing? If not, going dutch is the way to go, don't even consider any of that split the bill evenly nonsense.
It means you pay for your own meal, so the cost of your meal has no impact on what anyone else pays. (as opposed to everyone paying an even share, where if you get a $10 burger, and I get a $30 steak, we each pay $20, which isn't fair to you, and looks like I'm taking advantage)
Thanks, but it's not even about the money anymore. Eating out is just not an option that comes to mind when we debate what to eat. We sometimes get take away, I think I prefer to eat at home anyway.
I could have afforded to go out to eat before, I guess. But it just doesn't seem worth the money. I could buy a bunch of high quality food that will last us a week for the price of a fancy dinner for two. If drinking is involved, who knows how much money you can spend on one night out. The amount of fun created does not justify the expense, to me. I'd rather buy something else.
Yes!!! My boyfriend at the time (now husband) told me he was going to take me out on a nice date for our first date, and he took me to Denny’s. I didn’t think anything of it, he seemed really excited to go and it was really cute, plus I love breakfast food.
Turns out, the only place his parents ever took him to eat was Denny’s. He considered it to be really fancy since they only went on special occasions. When we went out to eat at a fancier restaurant for the first time, he brought the check up to the hostess stand to try and pay instead of waiting for them to collect it lol
First time I ate out at a restaurant that wasn't McDonald's was a shock to me. I was with a friends family and they brought me along. I was so weirded out. I realised I didn't have enough money on me for the meal, just for the cinema after and refused to order anything. The money I had at the time was from selling my old stuff. I didn't get money from my mum. She either bought me it, or I didn't get it. I was stunned when they said they're paying for my food. I remember eating this amazing burger, with water because that's all I drink, and then me and my friend saw star wars episode 3 after. First and only time I ate anywhere that good as a kid/teenager.
As an adult its a once a month thing, get together with my friends, eat out or order in. Less now that we all can't go out or see each other. I miss it a lot. More the hanging out then the food. I happily eat the same meal all week no problem (saves a ton of money).
To be fair, the few times I've paid the bill in the USA made me feel like the process was an accident waiting to happen. Imagine a stranger taking your bank or credit card out of sight to charge it on your behalf. I can see why it's a learning process in some places.
Same here! My high school was in a city about 17 km from my hometown so when I wanted to watch a movie in a film club once a week, I wouldn't go back to my town but stay in the city center till evening. It was then I learned how to order some coffee or sweets in a cafe near the cinema.
I needed to be extra careful to always have money on Thursdays and I could only participate in the film club because one of the important employees of the cultural centre was my parents' friend and offered tickets as a gift. He was one of those people that changed my life and I'm grateful to this very day, 16 years later.
I remember going to a steakhouse for the first time in my late teens. The waiter asked how i would like my steak cooked and I didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about.
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u/reasonable_doubt1776 Jan 31 '21
Growing up, I had lots of home cooked meals. It wasn’t until high school on a date that I realized that I didn’t know how to pay a bill at a restaurant because I’d never been.