Who foots the bill? (Part 2)

The waiter stands, bending slightly, his right hand reaching out, holding the bill.

Everyone at the table bends forward and starts fidgeting their wallets, which have all of a sudden become so “deep” that everyone seems to be having a hard time digging for notes or cards.

The waiter shifts from left to right. His hand trembles slightly after holding the bill in the air for sometime.

Time seems to have come to a stop. Everyone’s battling on who has the lowest level of patience and the lowest threshold of embarrassment.

Finally, someone gives up and foots the bill.

Have you ever been in such a situation before?

A friend once complained that whenever he goes for dinners in a large group, he dreads the “bill please” moment most.

He does not carry much cash but has a number of credit cards on hand, so he usually ends up as the one to foot the bill for the table.

When the bill comes, and nobody wants to take the initiative to pay the bill, there would be an awkward moment of silence and of course, embarrassment.

He would not have minded paying upfront, had it not been his numerous unpleasant experiences of having to fork out more than he should.

There are a few scenarios for this:

1) He pays the bill first and his friends pay him back after the meal, but they round down on their own individual bill and conveniently forget about the service charge or tax.
2) Some friends carry big notes and he does not have the change, so the friends promised to pay him the next time they see him. And when would that be?

As my friend says, “For those who do not have ready cash on hand, and if I do not meet them that often, then it would not seem too gracious to meet someone after so long and remind him to pay for a plate of spaghetti he ate 6 months ago, would it?”

“For those who forget about the service charge, it is not that big a problem since sometimes I just need to pay a dollar or so more for each person, and that does not add up to too much."

"But, the thing is, sometimes you see some misers who are obviously trying to save a few bucks. They do this (pay less or not pay) too frequently, and it becomes irksome because they seem to be making use of your ‘generosity’ on purpose.”

I certainly agree that such people are annoying, but there are times when it really slips one’s mind to pay, especially when the matter has passed for sometime. No wonder my friend likes to go to restaurants where everyone pays for their own share. For the convenience, now I know.