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Babee, sometimes, when it's work related eating, the option is "to get along" and "not make waves". Most of us, I think, make pretty good decisions for our personal life but sometimes we get roped into things. We live and then we learn.
But with work, I have often been to lunch with people I don't necessarily care for. How does this happen? Well, I ask person A who already had plans with person B. They seem ok but a couple more persons are invited because they, too, wanted to eat out that day. All of a sudden, you're dining with 4 other people and you don't want to make waves. It's a weird dynamic...you're not familiar with everyone...you may not be so close to those folks to you don't want to rock the boat. Trust me, this is not the battle to have at work...there are just so many others that you pick and choose.
Just sayin', it's not always a situation that is pleasant...having separate checks in these instances is the better way to go. Also, I've noticed I'm a way better tipper than my lunch mates...I'd like to be responsible for myself, not them.
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Originally Posted by exscapegoat
Yep, plus there's the who knows who game. If this co-worker was wealthy, it's likely she had connections. Perhaps her parents know the owner of the business and she was hired as a favor to the parents. Or perhaps she's even the daughter of clients of the business. If either of those scenarios are true it could come back to bite the rest of the co-workers in the butt if they leave her out of things. Not fair, but that's the way it works sometimes.
BINGO! You two are both correct.
It's a little hard to avoid someone when you all wait at the elevator together and you all go out to the parking lot together. She was very good at including herself. If 4 of us were going out together, we couldn't very well lie and then have her see us all go get in one car together. I got to the point I just drove home and had lunch there by myself.
LOL you guys take discussion forums waaaayy to seriously.
That's all ya got?
You're insulting, I respond, and you laugh?
It's not that I take this forum "way too seriously" (btw, spelling is your friend), but I put out there MY opinion. As such, when some person comes along, admits to not reading the posts and then is insulting, well, perhaps a direction is needed on your part.
Perhaps not. I honestly don't care about you....you don't seem to be my kind of person.
I waitress as well as dine out frequently so I can see both ends.
I usually like to split the cost of dinner evenly if we're all using cards. But roommate usually carries little to no cash so she usually puts the balance on her debit card and I give her cash since I always have cash. I trust her to do the right thing in regards to gratuity when she puts the balance on her card, otherwise I wouldn't dine out with her.
I've seen people whip out calculators at the end of dinner and imo, that's just tacky. Especially if someone says to me, put 25 dollars on my card and 27 dollars on his, like really, you had to make sure he paid that extra 2 dollars???
If I have to worry about things like that when I'm dining with someone or if they have to worry about things like that when dining with me they're not my friend.
I notice a lot of people from outside of NYC like to do the separate check thing. Separate checks may be fine if you ask ahead of time (because some places require manager authorization to split an existing check, and it may be impossible to grab someone if you're slammed, and additionally, you may not remember who had the more expensive beer) and you are only two people dining.
It depends, my preference is to have the checks split. I always ask as soon as I order if the check can be split. If that can't be done, then we all figure out how much we owe with tip, give it to the one person who sorts through the money to make sure there is enough, and volunteers to use their card. Or, if the orders are comparable in cost, I'm willing to evenly split the bill. But I will not do so when 1 person's costs are significantly greater than mine, and I won't pay for someone's 2 bottles of wine if I didn't drink any. I have no problem using my calculator or phone app. I have no problem if someone can't do any of these things, and wants to split the bill based on the exact amount they owe. I can work with that.
I don't understand why the POS system (or the waitress) can't just enter in each diner's order separately and then when the bills come either print them off individually or the machine can add them all together if that's what the table wants. Why is this such a headache - it seems like it would be really simple - bars do it every single night with customers and tabs.
I don't understand why the POS system (or the waitress) can't just enter in each diner's order separately and then when the bills come either print them off individually or the machine can add them all together if that's what the table wants. Why is this such a headache - it seems like it would be really simple - bars do it every single night with customers and tabs.
im assuming you've never worked in a restaurant. it is actually a huge headache. sure you (probably) know everything you ordered, but your server is waiting on 30 other people. it is a huge pain to track what each individual orders rather than grouping it by table, esp in a large party. people do things like moving seats and sharing apps, too, which further confuses things. say you have 6 people at your table. one dude tells you he wants some cocktail, someone else needs some more dressing, someone needs a straw, your other table is waiting for you to pick up their check, another table's food is ready and you need to bring it out, a table just sat down and you need to go greet them asap. and rather than just plop the drink order on table 4, you have to put it on person 5 at table 4. usually you'd remember what person it was by where they were sitting, but people like to shout out their orders in random order and people will change seats. it gets really confusing. and heaven forbid person 5's cocktail gets put on the wrong person's check. of course if you know they're going to have separate checks beforehand it does help so you can keep in mind that you have to keep it all organized by individual, but in the back of your mind you already know these ppl are probably cheap. in fact if you are frequently getting asked if you need separate checks i would second guess the way you present yourself (unless of course we're talking about low end places like applebees or dennys where this is expected. im assuming/hoping most people are talking about these places when they say they get asked for separate checks often).
I don't disagree it might be a headache but if bars can do why can't a restaurant?
they can. we're discussing whether they like to or choose not to
bartending and serving are way different as far as tabs go. you don't have people paying as they go at a restaurant. regardless, it usually works similarly when multiple people will order on one guy's tab at a bar just to make is easier. if you're in a group of four wouldn't it seem kinda dumb to all open your own credit card tab at the bar? pay as you go or have one tab. i've never bartended but im sure there is a similar annoyance
Though there was a period recently when I and a friend would trade dinners...we'd go out to these First Frday things and he'd buy one month and I'd buy the next....
We pay for our own stuff. If we're out drinking, we'll out put our money toward a bottle and juice so that we can pregame. But once we get to the club if we still want to drink more, we pay our own way, or have a guy pay for a drink for us. Same thing with eating--we all pay our own way.
I don't disagree it might be a headache but if bars can do why can't a restaurant?
POS systems design for servers is different than the bar POS. In a server's POS, tables are tabs. In a bar POS, bar seat numbers or names are tabs.
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