You Ordered a Salad… Why Are You Paying $125?

What would you do if you ordered a salad, but ended up paying for everyone else’s wine, appetizers, and expensive dinners? 😳

This What Would You Do Wednesday, Darlene, Monica, and Clara debate the ultimate restaurant question: Should you split the bill or pay for what you ordered?

And what about birthdays, separate checks, and friends who “forget” to Venmo you back? 👀

What would YOU do?

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to Mama's Playground. Yay! And we got oh, it's What Will You Do Wednesday. Oh, I forgot to say that. What would you do Wednesday? This is Darlene's What Would You Do Wednesday, which we have brought back our beautiful Clara.

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Oh, I thank you.

SPEAKER_02 0:16

Our in-house expert and travel and retreats. And if you want to find yourself again, this is the person. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

We brought her back for What Would You Do Wednesday, which Darlene is running this one. We have no clue what she's gonna spring on us. Okay. So we're just gonna go with it.

SPEAKER_02 0:33

So I'm gonna put it like this. Has it ever happened to you that you go to a restaurant with a group of friends and you're like, I'm just gonna order a salad, and then you end up paying $150 because they decided to split the bill. Or that you're like being conservative, saying, you know what? I I money it's tight right now. Let me just order something that's I don't know. Well, nowadays, especially in Florida, $25 dish, and then everybody's like ordering appetizers and expensive dishes and a lot of whiskey and a bottle of wine, which in my case I'll have some of that, but some people don't. What would you do?

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Clara, I'm gonna give it to you first, and then I'm gonna go second. You know, I just it's happened to me, it's happened to me plenty of times, and I have been in the ambiance where maybe close friends, or maybe it's just people I met, and we're you know, so it's like decisions, decisions. Like, what do we do? Do we ask for separate bills, eight separate bills, or do we split the bill? Um, if I'm with a close group of friends and Monica's ordering a salad, and we're all ordering bottles of wine, you know what, Monica? Don't worry about it. We got you. That is exactly how it's gonna go down because she does not need to be paying for a wine bottle and appetizers and all the extras when she just orders a sal a salad. So we got you, girl. We got you. That's because you're conscious. I'm conscious, you're conscious. Maybe it's just, you know, because what what I do? So I'm conscious and I'm watching and I'm observing, but I'm gonna cover your salad. That is how it's gonna go down. I appreciate that. But have you listened to appreciate that? We can go to Disney with the rest of the people, and I will say, um, I got you very secretly. Don't even worry about it. Take notes, people. Take notes.

SPEAKER_02 2:27

But has it happened to you that you're like, oh my god, today I'm not drinking, I'm in antibiotics, or I just don't want to drink, or I don't want to have a heavy meal. I came here to wish my friend a happy birthday. Let me sit down and have, you know, yes, whatever, a soup. And then it's like, okay, we're gonna split it.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

And you're like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, it has happened to me. And you know, if you're gonna go out, I always say you go out with the mentality that you're gonna be ready to spend money. So I am all for splitting the bill. I do not want the drama of like I had this, I had that, I had this. Yeah. Um, so I I'm all about splitting the bill. But let me tell you what happened. That's it.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

Like separate check. That's not fair though, because it's happened to me. Like, I'll I've gone before. Of course, I'm like you. If if I know we're gonna go out, it's because we're gonna eat and we're gonna, you know, try to, you know, we're gonna split. I don't want to be penny pinching and going, no, you had 50 cents more here. Like, I don't want to do that. But there has been a time and I I will not forget we went out with like 10 people, and I was like, I'm not even hungry. I already ate, but I just want to come because I want to be with everybody, I want to enjoy. And I think I had like one cocktail, okay? These people were ordering food, appetizers, wine, bottles, this. The bill gets there, and I think that bill was like, I don't know, a thousand dollars, okay? And I'm looking at the bill and I'm like, fuck. I was like, what do I what do I say? Excuse me, I did I think you're gonna have to edit that.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

No, it's okay to say fuck.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

You're gonna have to this is mama, and then my kids look back and go, Oh, mommy's cursing, and I'm okay, and it's okay for me to curse, and I'm gonna say no, it's not. Um, but anyways, I look at the bill and I'm looking at Benjamin and I'm going, I didn't order anything, and like, what are we gonna be paying? Like, why do I have to like mean it was a big bill? Yeah, yeah. And nobody was conscious enough to say, hey, Monica didn't eat, so like, you know, nobody, nobody. So I was like, shit, now I'm stuck paying for a bill for everybody's drinks and all that. So I was a little, I was a little irritated, but at the same time, it's probably my fault because I should have known don't go out if you're not gonna eat, you know what I mean? Like, don't then don't try to just spend time with people because they're gonna expect you to like pay the bill with them, you know. Most people, I think I would be like you. If I saw Darlene was didn't have anything and she had one little glass of wine and I was eating up like a hundred dollars of food, I'm not gonna make her pay $15. You know, I'd be like, don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. I would be just like that.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

But yeah, but on the other side, I've been in a situation where I've had to pay, you know, and split the bill extra. And I'm not a heavy drinker. And now, you know, we're at a point of our lives where we decided we can say no to these things. We can say no to going out, we can say no, it's okay, because maybe we're in a financial state where we don't want to spend uh $200 because we don't want to be put in a position where we're like, can you just bring me my you know, charge me for my two glasses of wine? I'm not gonna spend the bill. So Andy and I, my husband, we do make that decision sometimes. We're like, you know, this is gonna be a $200 night. Easy. I'm not drinking, you're not in the mood to drink. Yeah, so I think we need to pass, you know, or if we go, then we say, hey, a $200 night, we better be ready.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

Also, I think that people should be okay with people coming in and saying, We have our own check. Fabiana and I, we usually do that. We go to any of these and we tell the waitress, you know, it's we are in one check, whatever, and then when the bill comes and everybody's going crazy or whatever, it's like, hey, we got our check. Nobody should be offended at that, but then what can happen, and it actually it recently happened, um, is you end up paying way more than your dish. There's also the situation where, like, there's a birthday, right? And then let's pay for her or let's pay for him. It's her special day, it's his special day, so we're gonna cover them. But I feel like these are things that have to be discussed before you get there. Hey, by the way, we're gonna cover this person or that, and it's just I mean, we're in rough times and we're all trying to save a dollar here and there. And if they're your friends, they're gonna understand. You get there and you tell the waitress, we're on a separate check.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

But wait, wait, wait, wait, but there's also, there's also, because I've seen this happen so many times, and I say vivo, because they're haciendo, they go to the thing, they know they're gonna spend, they order the food, and then all of a sudden they have to leave. Oh no, I have to go, somebody's calling me. Are you kidding me? This has happened on two occasions that I had two different people, and I said, Are you kidding me? They left the bill, they didn't pay, and then when when they went to go collect the money afterwards, like the money didn't recall. Oh, yeah, yeah, I'll pay you, and they didn't pay. So everybody got stuck paying. Yes, that's vivo for real. Like, I've seen that happen as well.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

That's crazy because people leave it, but they're like, you know what? I already paid for my part, or he's gonna be able to get it.

SPEAKER_00 7:18

I'll pay you back. You know what? Whatever it is, just let me know and I'll tell you. You know, and that's happened. But for them to just leave and be like, Thanks, guys.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

No, I have to go. Yeah. No, no, cobra me la cuenta, like you know, charge me later, I'll I'll pay you. And then like a week has passed by, two weeks, and they never paid the thing, and then people forget, and you forget to get your money, and that person says loco, and then and then and didn't pay anything, and then you're like, I'm never going out. When they say that person's coming, I'm never going out.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

I am I'm honestly not a fan of like birthdays in restaurants because first of all, unless you have a round table, you you're depending on the time that you get there, you might be like stuck in the corner and you don't even get to spend time with them because you're at a restaurant. It's not like you can be getting up. Well, it depends where you go, but it's the whole thing that I don't know, like you're not really spending time with the birthday person. You're in a table, you're ordering your food, and then you're splitting a bill, and maybe the other person ordered like the surf and turf and you order like a $600 and you bought an appetizer. It's true.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

No, and you see, you see, my parents, again, I'm gonna bring my parents up because the older generation's always been like, if you invite somebody for your birthday, you pay for it. It's always been you pay for everybody. Yeah, and I told them things have changed, you know. Things are not, you know, if things have changed immensely from when you started growing up to us now, like that's not how we do that, that's not how it's done. Not not it's not, not in these times. Now you invite people, and it's like everybody's like, So do we pay for the birthday person? Like, do we pay for birthday? That's the right thing. That's the right thing. But people start saying the right thing. How are we doing this? And everybody's like, and I'm like, well, they invited us, but my dad would be like, if you're the birthday girl and you are inviting, it's because you are paying. Oh, I'm the old school mentality. That's the way that we invite people unless you're willing to pay for that. Correct. He's like, for my English speakers there, you invite for your birthday or whatever. You are treating everybody because you're inviting people for your birthday. And I'm like, Well, I see that. That's like the old school mentality, but now it's more, it's different. It's I tell him it's not like that. Like, that's not, you know. He's like, if you invite for a birthday party, Darlene, you have your 50th birthday party and you make a huge basket. You are inviting everybody. It's not that people are inviting you, and I'm like, well, it's it's Darlene's birthday, so it would be like her friends come and they invite her, but he wouldn't think that because you made the plans. Yeah. Yeah. You made the plans, so you pay for everybody. And I'm like, well, times have kind of changed.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

There's people that still do that. There's people that still do that, I think, you know. But um, but some people are not in a financial, you know, in a financial state to do that. So it's like, hey, you know what? Instead of having a party at the house where I'm gonna spend a thousand dollars, I'll do it at a restaurant, I'll invite my friends, and then everybody just pays for their own dish. That's the mentality. That's what, yeah. So that way I'm not paying for it, but I still get to celebrate my birthday. Um, so is there a wrong already? What is happening?

SPEAKER_02 10:14

No, it's interesting. The whole birthday thing, uh, it has it's has nothing to do with restaurant, but my friend uh Carla, we went to she came from Puerto Rico, and for her birthday, she wanted to have like a holistic birthday and a spa, a massage, and she treated me and our other friend Marta, and I was like, Wow, you know, but my dad would say that's correct. And we we fought it over text and for a while because it's like no, it's your birthday, and eventually she's like, No, this is my treat, and this is what I want to do. And she flew out here to Florida and she treated us, and I was like, Wow, but if you think about it, that's an old school mentality.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Your friends would treat you because like I would think if you're my friend, I'm gonna be like, Darlene, I want to treat you. Like, what do you mean? Like, you're gonna pay for me on your birthday. But I guess it goes back to like the old school way of thinking is like if you invite somebody, it's like if I'm on a date and I invite somebody, I'm paying because I invited you to come. So I guess they I don't know, I guess my parents have like generalized that in a way, you know, like if you invite, you pay. But I'm like, why would a birthday girl pay for her own meal?

SPEAKER_00 11:19

I think it just depends on the situation. I mean, I had a similar incident where um during COVID, you know, I like to travel during my birthday, I'm always out, I always go somewhere. But during COVID, we couldn't do anything. So what if I do? I rented a yacht. And it was the people that I used to hang out with in COVID because now I can't invite, you know, people that maybe have been exposed. So it's the people that I was hanging out with that I'm like, hey, I rented a yacht, let's go. And they were all like, hey, you know how much, how much? And I was like, no, no, no, it's my birthday. I want to tweet you guys. I got it. Like, let's go out and have some. Why wasn't I part of that group? Because we weren't part of the COVID group. It was it was literally the neighbor to my right and the neighbor to the left. Exactly. Which are awesome by what I mean. So it was literally the neighbors. Um, but that was like, you know, I go back and I think, would I do it again? Probably not. That was a one and one time thing, and that was it. You know, it was like special, it was my 40th. Yeah. So I wanted to do something different, you know? And then you kind of get to know people, right? You kind of get to know people. Like if we're always going out together, you know Darlene is like one that she's gonna have her own bill, yeah. Monica, whatever else we have, you know. Like, so you get to know your friends and you just like kind of go with it. It's like they're really right or wrong. Like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 12:40

Yeah, and but how do you I mean, what do you do in those situations? Let's say you have that tiny salad and you had uh, I don't know, a Diet Coke, and then you get, okay, so we're splitting the bill, and you get 125. Like, what would you do?

SPEAKER_00 12:56

I think you need to be up front. I think you just need to say, hey guys, I had a salad, I'm just gonna separate my bill. I think that's be as transparent as you can so that I think at the end of the day the waitress is not going back and trying to do the math again because that's a pain in the butt. Yeah, and that's the reason why people split the bill because they don't want to put them through like this whole thing, this whole thing of like split it divided by eight. So from the minute that you order, you say, Hey, my bill is gonna be separate. Which is simple to do it. It's a way to do it, transparency.

SPEAKER_02 13:29

And it's interesting when you said about your parents because it took me so long to tell my parents it's okay to you know to say you want a separate check. Yeah, because I don't I would say less than 10 years ago, we would go, Oh no, no, but wait, but uh oh, everybody's coming, okay. We have to pay for them, right? Yeah, and we can afford it. And I'm like, no, you don't have to pay for anybody, you pay your own bill. So the first few times when they started asking for the separate bill, and I could see it, they were so uncomfortable, they're like, wait, how do we do it? Um, yeah, it's our check. And I'm like, it's okay. That's how we do it. And I wonder when that shift started.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Because my daddy, it used to be the other way around. If we go out to dinner, my dad would never what do you mean, split the check? Like, this is we're we're eating together. It's one check. And usually he'll say something like, Okay, well, no, I got it, and then they fight. It's the old school way of like, I don't know, my dad's Cuban, so yeah. He's like that. It's like uh, it's um um, you know, depending on like I guess in the atmosphere that we're in, he'll be, I don't know, he'll be like, I got it, I got it. And then he got Benjamin used to that. So then they start fighting over the bill. No, I got the bill, no, I got the bill, and then finally we got to a point now where it's kind of like, okay, we'll split the bill. It's one bill, but we're gonna split the bill. There you go, you know?

SPEAKER_00 14:49

So, and you know, it's so funny. We were out to dinner with good friends, and we all had our kids. And then John must have been like, John's my son, and he must have been like 10. So there are our two friends, and we're fighting over the bill. And he's like, I don't understand why you guys are fighting. Just let him pay. He wants to pay. I'm just like, really? He did not understand the concept. He's like, Why is there something to fight? I'm like, no, you take it. No, I'm gonna pay for it. And talking to the waitress, and we're like, I got it, please don't take their credit card, I got it. And they're like, No, no, no, we're gonna pay for it. And John's like, Why are you guys fighting? He wants to pay for it, just pay for it. And I'm like, take the property. I don't understand that. I don't understand this whole fight over the building. And I'm just like, yeah, I guess you know what? Let's just split it, guys. It would be so much easier if we just split it, you know. So I don't know if there's a right or wrong though.

SPEAKER_02 15:41

I think it depends on the friend. If it's somebody that, if it's a group that you don't know well or you only know like one couple, I would not go. I would not go, or just do the you know, separate check. But yeah, I I rather for birthdays, either at a house, the park, the but yeah, the whole um the restaurants with so many people and all that, it's a little bit more than a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

Yeah, I think you have to be conscious who you go out with because you have friends that will drink a bottle of wine, but then you have other friends that they will order the caviar and the champagne. And it's like, but they're in a whole different like sphere of spending, you know, and you're like, this is not my usual Thursday, you know? Like so you go out with them, you know that you're gonna have that elevated extra expense that maybe you didn't sign up.

SPEAKER_02 16:32

We are adults enough to say, let's analyze this before we even say the plants, and we're adults too to know that if you're the host of that party or something, you know, be a little bit fair when you offer to, hey, everybody, let's split it in 10. And then it's not fair. So that's the what would you do for today?

SPEAKER_01 16:53

So now we want to know, we wanna know what would everybody that listens to us do? Like people, if you're listening to us, like what would you do in this situation? Is it right? Is it wrong to split the bill? Is it wrong to, you know, uh put it all in one and just pay ten dollars worth of like a thousand dollars of food that you didn't order? I mean, what's the right thing to do? And if you're leaving the party early, just make sure that you really van them at the moment.

SPEAKER_02 17:19

Exactly. Exactly, and don't throw the cash in and remember there's taxes and there's tip because that's another thing. Like, okay, my salad was $12.99 here, $13. It's like, no, you know what? Whatever. You gotta figure it out.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Yes, yes, that is a conclusion to our what would you do Wednesdays with Clara?

SPEAKER_02 17:41

Thank you guys. See you next time for another what would you do? Bye.