“Pay $65?!”: Woman Demands Coworker Pay For Her Overpriced Drinks, Work Drama Follows

While some people would rather keep their personal and professional lives separate, others see no problem in the two intertwining, which often results in communal activities outside of work.

For this redditor, though, spending time with her coworkers after work led to a rather awkward situation. Before going to grab dinner, the group decided to split the bill evenly, but that was before the OP saw what others were getting. Needless to say, the situation that followed didn’t make any of the employees’ relationships any better.

For those who dislike their job or the people they do it with, spending time with coworkers might sound like torture. However, statistics show that some are not only on good terms with fellow employees, they even manage to find friends among them.

A report on the state of friendship from the American Survey Center found that nowadays, Americans are more likely to make friends at work than anywhere else, including at school, in the neighborhood, at their place of worship, or through existing friends. And it’s no secret that surviving any job is easier when you work with people you like.

The World Economic Forum reports that a survey of full-time employees in the US found that 20% of respondents consider their colleagues to be friends; though only “at work” friends. Roughly 15% say that they have become “real friends,” suggesting that people make meaningful connections at work that tend to go from professional settings only to their personal lives, too.

A survey carried out among employed individuals in the UK found that as much as 43% of them socialize with their coworkers outside of working hours every month, and almost a quarter do every two weeks.

The OP didn’t share how well she got along with her coworkers, nor did she specify how often they got together outside of work. But that one time she did—be it the first or the last time—it didn’t end well, all because of paying the bill.

Before going to brunch, the colleagues agreed on splitting the bill four ways. However, they clearly had different ideas on what that meant order-wise. For instance, while the OP ordered food and drinks for $26, others saw no problem going way above that, yet splitting the costs equally.

Part of the problem was the redditor’s coworker ordering drinks, which alone added up to quite a sizable share of the bill. Talking about the etiquette of splitting the bill, food editor at New York Magazine and former co-chef and owner of Philadelphia-based restaurant Poi Dog, Kiki Aranita, told NPR that in certain situations, when others order expensive drinks and you don’t, for instance, it’s important to speak up.

"Just be like, 'Hey guys — I didn't drink.' Usually, that's enough for everyone to reconfigure the bill to make it fairer. The problems only arise when you don't speak up,” Aranita said, adding that if you’re ordering pricey drinks, it’s important to be conscious of the people in your party who didn't order as much as you. In such cases, you might want to offer to pick up a larger portion of the tip to make up for your drinks.

If you’re unsure if the people you go out with are going to be conscious enough to split the bill in a way that is fair, you might want to ask for a separate check, and do it before the meal. Stating that you will be paying separately is not a rude thing to do, and it can save you a lot of headache, as some people in the comments noted.