A video shared by TikTok creator @maxwellvision describes a situation involving one of Maxwell’s friends, whom he said began counting a favor after initially telling him there were no strings attached. The video has received 1.7 million views and 1,192 comments.
Maxwell explained that the incident began at a birthday dinner for one of their female friends. A group of friends gathered to celebrate her, but when everyone received separate bills, Maxwell realized he had forgotten his wallet at home.
His friend offered to pay for his meal and told him he didn't need to repay him. However, two weeks later, Maxwell said the same friend confronted him about the $65 meal after seeing him give money to another friend.
Maxwell began the video by making it clear that he has no problem paying someone back when the situation calls for it. But when someone, especially a friend, offers to buy something for him and explicitly says he doesn't need to pay them back, he considers that a favor.
@maxwellsvision why you should never ask nobody for NUN
♬ original sound - Maxwell
He said, “If I never asked you to do it. . . You're offering to buy me something, that's already put in the back of my mind that you don't wanna get paid back. You're like, doing me a favor. But when you ask me to pay you back, it seems like you're counting favors. Are we homies?”
Maxwell explained that one night, he and a few other friends attended a birthday dinner for one of their female friends. Everyone was enjoying themselves, and the night was progressing smoothly until the bill arrived.
He said the birthday girl's best friend told the waitress she would pay for her own meal, while everyone else at the table should receive separate bills.
Maxwell received a $65 bill, which he said seemed accurate based on the food and drinks he ordered. But when he reached for his wallet, he realized his pockets were empty.
After retracing his steps, he concluded that his wallet was either in the Uber he had taken to dinner or back at home.
He checked his phone to track the AirTag attached to his wallet and was relieved to discover that it was safely at home. However, with no cash or cards on him, he had no way to pay his bill.
Maxwell considered asking one of his friends to cover his meal but didn't feel comfortable doing so. Instead, he asked the waitress whether they accepted Apple Pay, which would have allowed him to pay with his phone.
However, she told him the Apple Pay machine was out of service.
Maxwell Said His Friend Declined Repayment, Then Brought Up the $65 Meal Two Weeks Later
Maxwell then remembered that he had payment apps such as Zelle and PayPal. He could ask a friend to cover his check and immediately send the money back through an app. He chose to ask his friend Jack and told him he would reimburse him through Zelle.
To Maxwell's surprise, Jack declined. “Zelle me the money? You good . . . You don't gotta Zelle me nothing. How much is it? $65.00 . . . Bro, you good,” Jack told him.
Maxwell interpreted that as a favor that Jack didn't expect him to repay. He thought that, to make things even, he could pay for Jack's tab the next time they went out for dinner or attended an event together.
Because that's how friends operate, Maxwell said.
The night ended on a good note—or so he thought.
Two weeks later, Maxwell said another friend, Jay, invited him to play basketball at the gym. He said their other friends would be there, including Jack, so he agreed.
After playing a few games, everyone was tired. One of Maxwell's friends, Eric, said he was thirsty and wanted a Gatorade. However, the machine only accepted cash, so Eric asked if anyone had any.
Maxwell said he had about $4 in cash and gave it to Eric. Jack was there and saw him hand over the money. Jack then looked at Maxwell and said, “For real, bro? That's crazy . . . That's wild.” Confused, Maxwell asked what the problem was.
“Bro, you don't think it's weird that you're giving other people money when you owe me money? I paid for your dinner, you said you would pay me back,” Jack replied.
Maxwell reminded Jack that he had explicitly told him he didn't need to repay him. Maxwell also pointed out that he had offered to send the money through a payment app that same night, but Jack had still insisted that he didn't need to.
Jack then explained that he had only said that to be nice but had expected Maxwell to reimburse him. He also told Maxwell that if he couldn't pay him back, he would understand, which Maxwell interpreted as suggesting he didn't have the money.
Maxwell said he immediately pulled out his phone and sent Jack the $65 through Zelle. He explained that, from his perspective, Jack was counting the favor and he didn't want the $65 payment hanging over their friendship.
Reacting to the video, many commenters agreed with Maxwell that if someone does you a favor, they shouldn't expect you to pay it back. One commenter don't expect repayments, they just take turns buying each other things. They wrote, "Me and my buddies don't pay each other back, we just take turns buying stuff for everyone."
Another commenter agreed that Jack should've made his intentions clear. They wrote, "He should've been straight forward with his intentions. Also, if you don't rock with him like that, you could've sent him the money right away to avoid this."
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the events described by @maxwellvision, which are based solely on his account of the interaction with his friend.
