Oh the politics of money and sushi. And I know you and everyone else has been in my position before.
On to my boring story about my co-worker's graduation dinner, and oh lordie. Look, I believe in celebrating graduations and going out to dinner is a rather good idea, but the woman (Mid--) who chose the restaurant (not the same woman who was graduating) picked this extremely fancy place downtown where everything dish was at least $30, and the appetizers were no less than $20. Plus is was Italian food, and I really can't stand Italian restaurants because noodles and red sauce cost about $1.40 to make at home so why pay $15 for it at a restaurant?
Anyway, there was all of this drama about the price because me and one of my co-workers going, who has a family of 3 young children, just didn't want to pay that much. Do I have $30 to spend on a meal? Yes. But if I'm going to spend that much it's going to be on a steak or out with my boyfriend or something that I truly want. If I'm spending my money on a splurge, like my new phone or plane tickets or whatever, it's because I've been saving my nickles and skipping meals and not going out, and so I've earned the right to splurge, in my opinion. I'm not in poverty but I'm not rich, and I'd like to be able to say I'm in middle class because I have savings, but at any moment shit can happen and all those funds can disappear. More on that later.
What is boils down to is this: Mid--- isn't a considerate person by nature. And in this instance she was not taking into account that me and young mom aren't very well off in general and much poorer than Mid-- and the graduating girl who has a manager's salary. And Mid--- made a huge fucking deal that everyone is paying for their own meal.
Anyway, we were able to gentle ask the graduating girl if she would be down for a different place to eat and she agreed to a reasonable sushi place. My bento box was $12 (which was a treat over the one that cost about $10) and I got a water. So I anticipated a ~$15 bill if I was being cheapish with my tip. I tend to leave a 20% tip but sometimes a 15% makes sense.
And dinner was nice. Mainly work talk, some laughs, you know, a nice dinner but nothing super whatever.
But when the bill came all hell broke loose. The Mid--- was going to pay for her and the graduating girl, but then the accountant, who is a real accountant, put it all on her credit card and split it 4 ways so the graduating girl doesn't pay. I mean, I get it. But....my meal was now $25, not $15 like I signed up for when I was explicitly told I would be paying for my own meal and Mid-- didn't step up and argue that she would be paying for the graduating girl, not all of us.
And look, I don't want to be that person. I don't want to be that person who complains about $10 for a good cause. And I know this problem happens time and time again and it just simply happened to me this time. So I didn't complain--to them. But it still bothers me. I mean, I got water when everyone else got drinks. I got one bento box, when the other girls got bento boxes plus sushi rolls, and Mid-- fucking ordered a bento box, and three plates of fish. It's not fair. I t's not fair to assume equality for a bill when the poorest people at the table get the least amount of food and the richer people get more food and then expect it all to be equal.
I don't want to be that person. But I guess I was. And I thought I'd like to mention it.
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