Do you expect stuff you bring for an informal gathering to be returned at the end of the evening or the "bills" to be split equally?

What kind of stuff are we talking about? When you say bills, so you mean the tab at the end of the meal?

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

If the host says take it...I take it. Usually split bills evenly if they are relatively even. If I have a beer and you have three and a cheeseburger, you're getting 7 bucks.

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@audioidkid

Are you talking plastic cups or metal chafing dishes?

I usually drink everything I bring anyway
If its a ton of booze-- like half a handle of Jack thats left-- I'll take it. Otherwise I don't care.

I cover my end of the tab. When we've gone out with her family on like a Wednesday night, I'll have 1 drink at the most and she will have 2 glasses of wine at the most. I'm not giving any more than I have to because other people at the table have 4 buckets of beer. If its a Saturday and we've drank as much as everybody else, we throw in $ accordingly.

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Wrong again, Panther. If my gal and I drink $10 worth of booze, and another couple drinks $50 worth of booze, why should we each pay $30?

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Wrong again. I'm not paying for everybody, nor do I expect anybody else to pay for me and/or everybody.

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Nothing like starting a thread with a 100% vague question. Be specific, ya dingus.

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-- source

Of course I guess when you have almost no friends and only go out with the 1 you do have like once a year, you can afford to grab the whole bill.

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Ummm.... no. Everyone else can kiss my ass. My wife will be lucky if I pay for her meal.

"What's that shit on your chest?"
(wiping his finger across Vaughn's chest) "Crisco."
(wiping it across Vaughn's waist line) "Bardol."
(wiping it along his head) "Vagisil. Any one of them will give you another two to three inches drop on your curve ball. Of course if the umps are watching me real close I'll rub a little jalapeno up my nose, get it runnin', and if I need to load the ball up I just... (wipes his nose)"
"You put snot on the ball?"
"I haven't got an arm like you, kid. I have to put anything on it I can find. Someday you will too."

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@audioidkid

GEORGE: What is this? The marble rye?

MRS. ROSS: Oh, dear. I forgot to put out that - that bread they brought.

ESTELLE: We forgot to bring it in.

FRANK: No, I brought it in. They never put it out.

MRS. ROSS: Where is it?

SUSAN: I don't know. Where'd you put it?

MRS. ROSS: Right over there.

SUSAN: Well, it's gone.

GEORGE: You stole the bread?

FRANK: What do you mean stole? It's my bread. They didn't eat it. Why should I leave it there?

GEORGE: Because we brought it for them!

FRANK: Apparently, it wasn't good enough for them to serve.

MRS. ROSS: Is it possible they took it back?

SUSAN: Who would bring a bread and take it back?

MR. ROSS: Those people, that's who. I think they're sick.

ESTELLE: People take buses to get that rye.

GEORGE: Maybe they forgot to put it out!

FRANK: Aw, they didn't forget to put it out! It's deliberate! Deliberate, I tell ya!

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This.

-If the consumption is relatively equal between all groups members the bill will just be split evenly. If we all ate and had a few drinks give or take the end total isn't a big deal. No one in my group of chums will make a stink about me drinking 2-3 more Miller Lites than him. That would be very poor form and being a cheap ass.

-If we go to a Sunday football party or a small house gathering or whatnot and I bring a 12 pack and a small dish I don't expect to be taking the leftover beer back home. That's just stupid. You should also be aware of how big the gathering will be and the expectations. If it's a small one you shouldn't bring a case of beer or a case of really good beer because you will have to leave it or drink it fast and get out of control drunk and embarrass yourself. If it is a small dinner between 2-3 couples at someones home or a cookout or something I usually bring a 6 pack of good beer, maybe more depending on company.

-If you go out and the bill is super lopsided no one should have to point that out. The people who obviously drank the Guinness and did the car bombs and bought IPA's should be paying more than those who had a few drafts on special. The group should be self-policing and not expect those who only had a few to subsidize those who drank a shit load. If the bill is broken down and my share is $15 you best believe that I won't be increasing that to $40 or $50 to cover the others. This usually never comes up anymore because if anyone or any persons is going on a mission to get blitzed and puke they will simply have their own check and leave us out of it. Actually, most of the time if we plan on getting strange we will all just get separate checks, the waitresses/waiters have no problem with it because they end up getting tipped more.

cash? what does that matter. we have the technology to split bills...it's called math and data entry.

Panther, not everyone is pulling down six figures like you...but if you want to buy me and the lady dinner, I will totally let you do so.

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@audioidkid

If I have to sit through a dinner with Panther, he better be picking up the check. And it better be someplace nice, like Mendy's.

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well, it makes it easier to pay for $300 dinners. that can't be disputed....

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@audioidkid

And what credentials do you currently possess that would make it reasonable for you to be the arbiter of such things?

I would never start itemizing a bill at dinner and splitting it up that way. If someone did it to me, I'd likely not go out with them again. However, if I had six Johnnie Walker Blues and you had a single MGD, I'd either pick up the check or make sure I threw in a bunch more dough. I'd expect that my friends would do the same or at least make the offer.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Exactly. Something like that, there's maybe a two drink limit of what I would voluntarily "pick up" for a friend. Either I would expect a little scratch in return, or pick up mine next time out. Then again, this isn't a terribly huge deal. I trust most of my buddies and wouldn't make a fuss over $30.

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-- source

Buying any kind of alcohol or food or stuff brought to a party, and for it to be gone the moment you buy it. It is possible to provide and not even get any of the product. Shocking, I know. As for the group thing... I have done this when the bill is nowhere close to right. Grab the bill, read off what I had and put in $10 more. Pass the bill to the next person, do the same. I am not charging for the entire group because some guy next to me wanted to get wasted on 4.50 shots and drinks. That is silly. Everybody knows when they drank $50 worth of booze at a bar. Most times everybody throws in 20 or 40 accordingly. Maybe you need better friends Spaulding.

I remember seeing one of the club bar bills that are like $100K. These goofballs were paying $9 of a bottle of BudLight. I am not buying my best of friends a $9 12oz. beer.

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CSFMB: Home of the small minded

Exactly, I agree.

You should just know better and be more self aware.

Now, itemizing a bill at dinner in your professional years is pretty weak. If 4 couple had dinner you throw in your cards/cash and split it even. I don't care if you had another 2 beers compared to me or your entree was 15 dollars more. If you do start caring and bitching, just expect to never be invited out anymore.

What makes you think it wasn't Spaulding that drank $100 worth of booze?

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Yeah, I never did hang out with them again.

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CSFMB: Home of the small minded

After reading this thread we should all now accept Panther's invitation to take part in the Panthaloneion competition since "whoever planned the outing should pick up the bill"

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Sorry, Panther, outside of a business meal setting, picking up the tab for others of the same age/economic status comes across as showing off to me. I usually win the battle for the check with either my Dad or Father-in-Law these days, but even then once in a while they beat me to it, and I'm OK with that. But, I sure don't want one of my buddies paying for my wife and I on a Friday night friendly. Separate checks really is no big deal, nor does it come across as cheap. (and I am 20 years past my 30's )

YOU CAN NEVER BE A HANDSOME MAN, K!!!

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Doesn't buying dinner for friends come across as trying to do something nice for someone that you like (similar to giving a gift) rather than "showing off"?

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I consider the social acceptability of separate checks to be strictly regional. In a big city like New York or Chicago it's certainly frowned upon.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don