Love it or hate it, but there is a long-standing tradition that women in relationships or on dates can expect men to foot the bill for their shared meal. One woman on TikTok shared a story about how her ex-boyfriend asked to split the bill but became upset when another man at the restaurant took the opportunity to cover her bill.

The story sparked a lively discussion on the tradition of men paying the bill and on whether the ex was right to become upset at the stranger’s generosity. Scroll on to read her story and see the discussion that ensued in the comments.

Some people’s attitudes are changing, but many still follow the tradition that men must pay for meals they share with their girlfriends

Image credits: nd3000

One woman shared a story where her ex-boyfriend wound up regretting bucking the trend

Image credits: katieritchiie

I told this story sometime last year, but I had a lot less followers. So I’m telling it again because more people need to hear it. So me and my ex-boyfriend are dating at the time. We went to Waffle House. It’s 2 in the morning. He’s like, “hey, can you pay for your own food? I don’t really have money.”  I’m not a complainer. Yeah, of course. Whatever. 

We tell our server that we’re on separate checks, and when she comes back to give us the check, she goes, “oh, yours was actually already paid for.” I was like, “Me? What?” she was like, “Yeah”, I think she thought we might have been siblings or something. She was like “A guy over there thought you were cute, asked if you were on separate checks and he paid for your food.”

When I tell you, my boyfriend was so mad at me and I was just like, “That’s what you get for not paying for my food.”

Image credits: katieritchiie

 But if I’m ever a server and that happens, I’m going to pay for the girl’s food and say that exact thing. I genuinely don’t think that’s what happened, because there was this older man looking at me the whole time, but needless to say, anytime we sat down to eat after that, my food was paid for.

Image credits: katieritchiie

The video went viral on TikTok and sparked a lot of discussions

@katieritchiieBuy yo girls food‼️♬ original sound – Katie

Some people loved the story and came up with ways to make this happen more often

Other commenters mocked her ex for failing to pay for their meal, especially since they ate at an inexpensive establishment

There was also some pushback against the idea that men should always pay for a couple’s shared meals

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