The thing is, the netizen has a pretty comfortable salary, unlike most of their pals. They always split the tab whenever they go out to eat, but recently they had to bolt to avoid having to pay for the people their friends brought along.

Person pays their share and leaves the restaurant unannounced

As they know their friends will demand they split the entire check, including the bill of those they brought along

“AITA for doing an Irish exit at a restaurant so I wasn’t stuck with the bill?” – this netizen took to one of Reddit’s most philosophical subreddits, asking its members if they’re indeed a jerk for bolting out of the restaurant without saying anything so they wouldn’t have to be responsible for the bill. The post managed to garner 12K upvotes as well as 1.4K comments discussing the matter.

There are people out there who aren’t afraid to use others in order to further their own goals; what’s more, this often takes place without the so-called victim’s awareness. However, the author of today’s story was very conscious of their friends’ sneakiness. 

The thing is, u/OldAbbreviations6423 was lucky enough to get a decent job after they graduated. It’s not anything extraordinary – however, it pays the bills and allows them to live comfortably. Some of their pals, though, either didn’t bother with college at all or chose less profitable fields. 

When the netizen was recruited, they received a decent hiring bonus, so they took their pals out while also making sure that they understood that it was a one-time thing. Nowadays, when the buddies meet up and go to a restaurant, they usually split the check, and while the original poster doesn’t drink and eat much, they claim that their friends tend to go “overboard.” The author is very well aware of the fact that they don’t all have disposable incomes, so they usually cover the tip – yet, it seems that instead of appreciating the gesture, the friends mooch even more.  

Before we move on, Bored Panda was lucky enough to get through to Diane Dreher – a nonfiction author, Professional Certified Coach credentialed with the International Coaching Federation, and member of the Positive Psychology Guild – to ask a couple of questions to gain her professional perspective on the story.

“Some people take advantage of their friends for many reasons. They can be:

· In a hurry or preoccupied

· Self-centered and thoughtless

· Boundary violators

· Poor communicators

· (In this instance) intoxicated and not thinking clearly,” Diane Dreher said when we asked her why some people take advantage of their friends.

Last but not least, we pondered what a person should do if they find themselves in a similar scenario, to which the woman said: “If you find yourself in such a situation, the first thing is to be clear about your own needs and then communicate them clearly. Set reasonable boundaries. If people don’t honor your needs, that could be a sign that they’re not really good friends. The person in this example could have told her friends in advance that she needed to leave at a specific time and her intentions (‘I need to leave by 8:00, so I’ll pay my share when I go’).”

“Clear communication can prevent many misunderstandings.”

The Redditor is now in their friends’ “bad books,” and while they feel bad for bolting – they didn’t want to pay for strangers’ food

Now, onto the main event. Last week, the bunch decided to go to a Mexican place, where a few of the friends also brought their partners along. The author mentioned they had to have an early night and stuck around until everyone started ordering more drinks, desserts, etc. When someone ordered a to-go meal for their roommate, the Redditor, knowing they were going to have to split the bill, decided it was time to bolt. They excused themselves to go to the bathroom, paid their share, and quietly left.

u/OldAbbreviations6423 started getting texts about 45 minutes later when the bill came and they wanted to split it. Naturally, the author informed their friends that they had already paid their $55 tab, including tip, leaving the other four with the remaining $640. And all would be nothing, but they wanted to split their guests’ bill too. A guy that didn’t invite anyone tried to bicker, claiming that it wasn’t fair for him to split the bill when the OP didn’t – however, he was told that there’d be no more contributions. Everyone ended up paying for their own food, excluding the guy who had to pay for his, his date’s and her roommate’s food. 

The post’s creator revealed that while they do feel bad for leaving unannounced, they knew that if they didn’t, they’d have to pay for strangers’ food. 

What do you think about this situation? Would you have done anything differently?