If you’re going out with a group, it’s implied that everyone will split the bill equally—but not everyone agrees with this method of divvying up the payment, including one TikToker who has gone viral after she shared a storytime about how she and her friends racked up a $1,200 bill in New York City and couldn’t agree on how to pay it.
The TikToker, who posts under the handle @rebekahjourney, posted the clip as a stitch with another video from user Viccgotti.
@rebekahjourney #stitch with @Viccgotti this is my story… ive been a subject of such ghetto. #splittingthebill #eatingoutwithfriends #fyp ♬ original sound – ALIEN👽🛸
The video starts with a snippet from Viccgotti’s post, in which a group argues about splitting the bill for a birthday dinner. The clip then cuts back to the TikToker who says, “And this ladies and gentlemen, is why I stay my ass home.”
She then launches into a storytime about her own group dining experience with a friend who invited a bunch of “broke college students” to dinner at a restaurant in Times Square. She says that before agreeing to the dinner, she looked up the restaurant’s menu to make sure she would be able to afford it.
The TikToker ascertained that she would be able to get an appetizer and drink but explained that by the time she arrived at the restaurant after work, her friends had already ordered. Nevertheless, she says, “I sat down and I got one appetizer and one drink,” also noting that, “The appetizer must have been like 25 and the drink must have been like 15.”
However, as the night progressed, more and more drinks and food arrived at the table.
“And then the bill comes and the bill starts being passed around like a hot potato,” she says. This was when the night took a turn. “Like everybody who gets the bill is like, ‘oh…well here you go.’”
The TikToker says she was shocked when the bill was handed to her. “Why the f*ck does it say 1200 dollars?” she asked, noting that there were 10 people at the table.
Since the restaurant would not do separate checks for each individual at the table, the TikToker says they decided to Zelle one person who put the entire bill on their credit card.
“Yo after everybody Zelle’ed that one person, why did this person only get $360 from all 10 of us?” The TikToker says that’s when the “arguments commenced” and questions about who ordered what came into play.
When one person suggested splitting the bill, effectively asking everyone to pay $120, the TikToker was not having it. “I’m like b*tch my appetizer was $20 and my drink was $15! Plus gratuity and tax, I’m not paying no more than $50 here.”
She said that even after another “round of Zelle,” the group was still $800 short. At this point, the restaurant was closing, and other patrons were leaving, but the group was still at their table fighting over the bill, “and now the arguments are getting progressively more aggressive.”
Eventually, they were able to able to resolve the situation, but the TikToker went on to say that after the experience she vowed to never participate in another group outing.
The video garnered over 1.7 million views on the social media platform, with a number of viewers agreeing on the pitfalls of group dining.
One commenter was completely on board about not splitting the bill equally, writing, “I never understood the whole ‘oh well just split the bill evenly’ like no I’m not paying 200$ if I only ate 30$ worth why? I didn’t order 200$ worth.”
Someone else said that they would’ve handled the situation differently: “I wouldn’t sit there arguing. Go to the waiter tell them I want to split the bill just what I ordered, pay, and leave.”
“I’m very QUICK to say ‘MY bill is SEPARATE’ to the waiter/waitress,” agreed another person.
“Only time you split equally is if everyone got around the same thing,” someone else said, providing what they thought was the only justification for an evenly split bill.
One user was shocked at people who aren’t watchful of what they order at a restaurant, questioning, “How do people not keep track of how much they have and how much they spending,” while another incredulously asked of this particular group, “BRO WHY DID EVERYONE BRING $30 & order multiple drinks.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @rebekahjourney via TikTok comment for further information.
