Woman Says Splitting Bill for Non-Drinker at Group Lunch Makes Her Not Want to Hang Out Anymore: ‘She Also Didn’t Tip’

“The annoying bit is, she had 3 [sodas] … they weren’t really much different in price to most of our alcohol,” she recalled

A friend group is fizzling out after a lunch outing — where one person’s soda orders and her subsequent request to split the bill unevenly because she didn’t order any cocktails — left one friend feeling annoyed.

The annoyed friend explained why separating the bill in this instance is bothering her so much on the U.K.-based forum Mumsnet.

“I’m sure this has been done many times before by people in similar scenarios,” she prefaced her story. “I went out for a bit of lunch with two friends and one of them brought another friend along that I’ve never met.”

“However, when it came to the bill, she said, ‘Can we please calculate it all with the alcohol you’ve had separately paid for? Because I only had classic Cokes,’ ” the woman recalled.

She then recalculated the tab at the person’s request.

“So 3 of us paid for our drinks in a split, and then did another split for the rest with her and her food and classical colas,” she said. “The annoying bit is, she had 3 of them. And they weren’t really much different in price to most of our alcohol.”

They also shared a roast and a mango cheesecake. 

“I wouldn’t mind but she kept insisting we all had a dessert so she didn’t feel alone in having one. We’re adults after all, but it is a bit annoying,” she admitted, before adding another surprising element. “She also didn’t tip.”

Now, the woman wants to tell her close friend to not bring this other friend along to future restaurant outings. Wondering if she’s being unreasonable, she asked the Mumsnet forum if it is okay “to think you don’t get out of paying the bill because you don’t drink?” 

Her April 9 post attracted more than 400 responses within 48 hours. 

“You are being unreasonable,” one person commented, before explaining why. “I don’t drink and I won’t facilitate other people drinking either. I don’t split the bill. I will pay for what I’ve eaten and drank.”

Another non-drinker agreed, replying, “I don’t mind splitting evenly if others have had something like one single glass of wine and I’ve had soft drinks. But if other people are ordering bottle after bottle of wine, I really don’t think it’s fair that I should subsidize that.”