December 26, 2023 at 3:48 am

Boyfriend Tries To Pretend He Paid For Their Dinner, So She Puts Her Foot Down And Doesn’t Let Him Save Face

by Matthew Gilligan

Source: Reddit/AITA/Unsplash/@blakewisz

There’s nothing wrong with splitting a restaurant bill as a couple and there’s also nothing wrong with having one person pay for the whole thing.

But there is something wrong with having someone else pay and then LYING about it.

Is this woman wrong for not letting her boyfriend pretend that he paid for a meal at a restaurant?

Let’s see what’s going on here…

AITA for splitting the bill at dinner and not letting my boyfriend pretend he paid?

“I (24f) have been dating “Ben” (26M) for eight months.

For context, Ben and I are from different income brackets, and Ben has expressed that he sometimes feels a little bit weird about this because he is a gentleman at heart but he says it’s hard to treat me since I’m not really impressed by his gestures.

I’ve said many times that I’m not concerned about these kind of things either way, but it comes up periodically.

Last night Ben and I went to dinner with 6 of my friends. There were 3 men in total and 5 women.

At the end of the dinner the two guys “Max” and “Harry” said they would get the bill, as the guys usually do when we’re out.

He wasn’t cool with that and he wanted things done his way.

Ben quietly said to me that he wasn’t really comfortable with the guys paying for his dinner so I said I’d chip in with the bill.

Ben said thank you but could he chip in and then I could pay him back afterwards because he didn’t want them to know I was paying.

This struck me as totally absurd because firstly, it’s an unnecessary step, second even split the cost was something I wasn’t sure he would realistically be able to cover, and third I felt like he was trying to enter a contest with my friends which was just childish.

And then she spilled the beans.

I said no I would just pay and then turned to everyone and said I’d chip in a third of the bill. No one batted an eyelid, but Ben was sulking.

He’s now mad at me saying I emasculated him and made him look bad in front of my friends. I think he’s being dramatic because my friends couldn’t care less and he needs to get over himself.

Am I in the wrong for not letting him “save face”?”

Here’s how people reacted.

This person said this is not her issue…it’s his.

Source: Reddit/AITA

Another individual shared how it works with her husband.

Source: Reddit/AITA

One reader said she has a decision to make.

Source: Reddit/AITA

This Reddit user made a great point.

Source: Reddit/AITA

Just admit you don’t make as much money as your girlfriend and get on with it.

It’s not a big deal!

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.