NEED TO KNOW
- A woman wrote on Mumsnet that she is ‘fed up’ with splitting restaurant bills with her ‘larger’ friends who order more food than her
- The woman said that she doesn’t want to split the bill anymore with her friends as a result
- Commenters called out the original poster for fat-shaming her friends
A woman has been accused of “fat-shaming” after she said that she is “fed up” with having to split restaurant bills with her “larger” friends who order more food than her whenever they dine out.
In an ‘Am I Being Unreasonable?’ thread on Mumsnet, a woman wrote that she is considering not splitting the bill with her two friends when they eat out together, as she claims they usually order more food than the others — but she doesn’t want to be called out for being “rude.”
“There are four of us in our friendship group and we go out for dinner every other month or so, splitting the bill equally between us,” the woman said. “A couple of my friends are larger ladies and they often order slightly more food than I and another friend.”
The woman said that eating out at restaurants has become a more costly expense and so she is starting to feel frustrated over having to pay more than she bargained for when splitting the bill between her friends.
“With prices having risen sharply, we are now noticing the cost of things more closely and starting to feel a bit aggrieved that we are paying for food we aren’t eating,” she explained.
The woman said that next time she dines out with her friends, she’ll suggest to them that they pay for their own meals, but she’s worried it’ll be “awkward.”
“I think it will be obvious why that suggestion is being made,” she wrote.
Readers in the comment section suggested that the woman should handle the situation sensitively, explaining that she’s trying to save money, rather than focusing on her friends’ choice of orders as her reason not to split the bill.
“No need for the fat-shaming,” one person wrote. “As the cost of eating out has increased, it’s a reasonable suggestion that each person pays for their own meal.”
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“It’s fine to just pay for what you eat. I wouldn’t expect my choices to be subsidised by my friends,” another commenter added.
“I am a vegetarian and get fed up with subsidising steaks,” a third person wrote. “I also don’t drink much more than a single glass of wine. People tend to over-order when the bill is getting split.”
Another reader argreed that it’s actually the drinks that “run the bill up” and that the woman should consider this also when ordering her next meal.
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