If someone says “my treat” when covering a meal and insist that they’ll pay for it, would you be surprised to later discover that they sent you a CashApp request for the food they just said they would cover?
That’s what Emily (@emilyyy.rs) said happened to her after she went out to lunch with a co-worker who offered to cover her grub.
She posted about her experience in a viral TikTok clip that’s garnered over 250,000 views. Emily asks viewers if she was wrong to be upset over the interaction with her co-worker. Several other users on the app responded that they thought it was petty of her office mate, but that it was probably in Emily’s best interest to just cough up the cash and forget about it.
“Somebody tell me if I’m wrong, but me and my coworker went to get lunch today and when it’s time to pay, she was like, ‘Oh, I got it, Emily. I’ll treat you,’” the TikToker claims. “And I said, ‘Are you sure? ‘Cause I’m only gonna give you one chance to say no.’”
But Emily says her co-worker insisted.
“A few hours go by, we’re at the office, and then I get a text and it says, ‘Hey, I have CashApp,’” she recalls. “And I said, ‘CashApp for what?’ And she said, ‘Oh, for lunch. The total was $10.67.’”
CashApp request accepted
Emily decided to simply pay up, but the situation left her perturbed.
“I’m not about to go back and forth with her because it’s $10.67,” she reasons. “It’s just the principle. If you offered to pay for something, then stay broke for the rest of the week if you don’t have it after you paid for it. Because I wouldn’t offer to pay for something if I didn’t have it.”
The TikToker continues her rant. “I wouldn’t offer to pay for something and then ask somebody to pay me back,” she says. “You literally said, ‘My treat,’ and I said, ‘Are you sure?’ I gave you a chance to say no, so I just think that’s pretty weird. Am I wrong? I think that’s pretty weird to do.”
She added in a caption for the video: “is this making sense to anyone or whataxwis this making sense to anyone or what.”
What exactly does ‘my treat’ mean?
There were a lot of folks in the comments section who mentioned that they did, indeed, believe it was wrong for the co-worker in question to do that, but also, that she shouldn’t make a big stink about it either, as this is someone she works with.
Numerous TikTokers remarked that they believed the best course of action to be paying back the woman and then never accepting a gift or gesture from her again: “A coworker isn’t your friend . Pay her back and don’t trust her for anything ever again,” one wrote.
Another said: “Definitely wrong but I’d give her the money and never accept anything from her again.”
In the comments section, viewers said they would’ve been a lot more petty than Emily.
Someone replied that they would’ve gone out of their way to pay for her food too. “I would’ve sent her double back and said ‘hey girl here’s for BOTH of our bowls, MY TREAT,’” they wrote.
“I’ll treat you, means they totally got it. She might need to look up the meaning or just played you. Pay her back and don’t accept future offerings,” another said.
“I would never talk to that coworker again cause theyll do me dirty and act all sweet like it aint nothing,” a third claimed.
The etiquette of Venmo and CashApp requests
After-the-fact Venmo and CashApp requests have become somewhat common areas of social media gripes over the years, and even the source of satire, like this one TikTok user who uploaded a video about how upset they were a teacher Venmo requested her $370 for all of the damage her kid caused in a classroom.
This same user uploaded a video online where she sent a mom a $36 Venmo request after having over her kid for a playdate.
A number of folks have also noticed that some of their “rich” friends “struggle with generosity,” sending them Venmo requests for nominal amounts of money. CNBC reported on this phenomena, referencing one X user who penned: “Rich people love to venmo request you $4.72 for like half a bagel because they have no concept of money and don’t understand that working class people operate under an economy of buying someone a beer. I currently owe around 23 beers to friends and am owed around 29 beers.”
@emilyyy.rs is this making sense to anyone or what
♬ original sound – emilyyy.rs
Someone else on the app chimed in and wrote: “Friend making $20/hr as a barista: ‘No worries bro, I”ll cover this one and you’ll get the next one!’ Friend making $450k as a software engineer: ‘Can you Venmo me $3.62 for your share of the Uber ride?’”
According to Susan Bradley of the Money Institute, per CNBC, this type of behavior manifests as a result of folks who have a lot of money feeling “isolated” by their wealth as they don’t have fiscal peers. What they do end up having, however, is the feeling that the only reason they have friends is because they have money, and they don’t want to feel like they’re being used for their wealth: “These insecurities manifest as a $4 Venmo request. ‘If someone does the small-dollar Venmo, it means they don’t feel good,’ Bradley says.”
As for what the co-worker’s intentions could’ve been, one person speculated that she may’ve wanted to get some rewards points on a credit card for paying.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Emily via TikTok comment for further information.
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