Gonna sound like such a sook…
Went out to dinner last night for my Uncle’s milestone birthday. Chipped in for a present from a bunch of us.
It was a bit more of an expensive restaurant than we’d normally go to (no veggie mains under like $35). Me, hubby, my siblings and cousins were on the “kids table”, so didn’t know what our parents were getting, but we didn’t order excessively or anything.
I ordered a soft drink, and entree and a main. And tbh, the main was disappointing. It was kinda like salt & pepper tofu w green beans. It was simultaneously dry and greasy, and there were SIX pieces of tofu. It was $38. All up, the 3 things I ordered came to $57 (which was still overpriced imo).
Not sure what the discussion was when the bill came, but my Aunty came over to our table (brother of the birthday boy) and said it was $120 each 🫠
Firstly, I think if you’re wanting people to come celebrate and pay for their dinner, you need to explicitly say that, and say NO presents. Plus, I don’t know wtf the adults were ordering, but even including some beers, nobody on our table came close to $120 of food/drinks.
Two of my cousins came without their wives & kids, cos it was too late, and they’d both mentioned money being tight before this, I felt so bad. My Aunty also said my Mum was covering our family, which was obviously super appreciated. The whole thing was awkward so we didn’t get into it more then.
But I’ve been stewing on it. I really do not want to fork out $240 for the amount (and quality) of food we had last night, but it’s really not fair my parents just spent +$700 on dinner last night. I haven’t had a chance to speak to them yet, but I do wonder if it’s because they also feel we shouldn’t have had to pay.
Every other family 50th/60th etc we’ve brought a gift and not paid for food. And not to be rude, but aside from wishing him a happy birthday when we entered, I didn’t speak to my uncle the whole time. He wouldn’t have missed me being there, so it probably should’ve just been the Aunties & Uncles going out for a nice dinner.
Rant over. I just need to get it out of my brain!