In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack decide whether a person is a jerk for wanting to split the bill according to what each person owes as opposed to splitting the bill evenly.
Transcript:
00:00:01
Jack
Welcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And today we are going to do an am I the jerk situation. So social. I'm going to read you a situation from one of our listeners and then we're going to give some advice and say whether the person is the jerk.
00:00:22
Jack
Or not the jerk. So here's the situation.
00:00:26
Jack
I was at a restaurant with a group of friends when the bill arrived, everyone decided to split it evenly, even though I only ordered a salad and a glass of water, while others ordered multiple appetizers, drinks and desserts.
00:00:41
Jack
I felt it was unfair to pay the same amount as everyone else since I didn't consume as much.
00:00:48
Jack
However, I didn't want to cause conflict or appear stingy by asking to split the bill based on what each person ordered.
00:00:58
Jack
So now I'm torn between speaking up for myself or staying quiet to avoid confrontation.
00:01:08
Jack
Am I the jerk?
00:01:11
Xochitl
Well, how would they?
00:01:13
Xochitl
Be the I'm confused on how on why they think they would be a jerk.
00:01:18
Jack
I think they're saying am I the jerk if I, if I don't pay, if I only pay my portion, if I don't do the split bill thing?
00:01:28
Xochitl
No, I don't. I don't think there's any reason to think they would be the jerk because they only paid I'm a I'm a big fan of, I mean.
00:01:38
Xochitl
Uh. In cultures where or in, in friendships and stuff where you might maybe alternate UM.
00:01:45
Xochitl
Paying the bill, putting the bill when everyone goes out, I think that's fine. But also, if someone's only got a small thing, I don't think it's fair to make them pay evenly. Split the bill evenly. What do you think, Jack?
00:02:00
Jack
Yeah, this has happened to me too before where I think I I ordered like 1 drink and then the people that I was joining had been there for hours eating, drinking whiskey.
00:02:12
Jack
I mean, just like, you know, racking up the bill.
00:02:17
Jack
And then they go. All right, let's split it all up, you know? And then they gave me, like, a a huge bill.
00:02:24
Jack
A huge portion of the bill and I said.
00:02:28
Jack
Look, I I only had one drink.
00:02:31
Jack
I'm not paying for your, you know, whole meal that I never got to enjoy. And the whiskey that I never got to drink, you know? And they looked at me kind of weird, but they they I think they understood, you know the situation.
00:02:37
Xochitl
Right.
00:02:50
Jack
In this case, I don't know. I'm kind of like.
00:02:55
Jack
I don't know.
00:02:56
Jack
I there's there's a few. I have a few kind of ideas about it. My first idea is like if you can't afford to go out to a restaurant, just don't go.
00:03:08
Jack
You know what I mean? Like, sometimes the people go, oh, I can't really afford this, but I'm going to go and just have a salad and that will somehow.
00:03:10
Xochitl
Right.
00:03:18
Jack
Then I can afford that salad and then I get to to be with the people. And then when they split the bill, you realize ohh now I've got to pay more and.
00:03:29
Jack
In that case, I just feel like maybe you maybe that that restaurant is just too expensive for, for you and it's better to just decline the the offer the invitation even though you really want to go. I think you have to, you know, know what you can afford and what you can't afford. And there's they're really.
00:03:49
Jack
You know, shortcuts can backfire, you know.
00:03:54
Jack
And on the other hand, what I'm what I'm thinking is that like, just from a purely fairness standpoint, it doesn't seem fair that just one little salad that costs $10 and now you have to pay $30.00 because your friends were ordering drinks and they were someone had a tomahawk.
00:04:15
Jack
Steak. And you know what I
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