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Splitting gas money should be one of the easiest math problems in friendship, and yet somehow it never is.
A driver asked three friends for $12 each to cover a 160-mile round trip, and two of them paid without a second thought.
The third had other plans, pulling out mileage comparisons, rental car math, and a countdown of every reason $12 felt like a rip-off.
What he didn’t count on was the driver pulling receipts of his own, tallying up every free ride he’d handed out before without so much as a complaint.
Read on for the following story that’s all about getting called out by your own bad math.
AITA for asking my friends for $12 each towards petrol, and pushing back when one tried to pay less than the others?
I drove three friends on a 160-mile round trip. Afterwards I asked for $12 each ($48 total) for fuel. Two paid without issue.
The other friend, however…
The third pushed back, saying $12 felt steep given my car does ~70mpg.
He compared it to a rental car he’d used recently (45mpg, longer trip, ~$27 each for two people), mentioned they’d already paid train fare to meet me, and said he’d raised the same issue after a previous trip.
The friend made a different proposal, but the driver wasn’t buying it.
He offered to buy me a pint instead, or transfer “what the fuel actually cost.”
I replied that $12 doesn’t even cover insurance, servicing, or wear on the car. I’m not charging for that, but didn’t think $12 was unreasonable for 4.5 hours of driving.
The driver begins to point out holes in the friend’s logic.
I said the train cost wasn’t relevant since that was his choice. I also pointed out I never charged him for two previous trips (270 miles combined, one of which I also covered parking for), so across all three trips, $12 for this one didn’t seem like much.
Then the driver decided to go low.
I also made a dig about him getting paid to sit around doing very little at his job, implying $12 shouldn’t matter to him. That part was intentional.
He’s the type to say “yeah we’ll sort you out for fuel” but never actually offers first, and I’ve never called it out before because it felt awkward.
This time felt different because the other two had already paid the same amount without complaint, and it seemed unfair for him to negotiate a discount for himself.
AITA?
Sounds like this friend deserved to finally get called out.
What did Reddit have to say?
Other teenagers have had the same discussions with no issues.
Two wrongs don’t make a right according to this commenter.
The payment aspect really should have been sorted out sooner.
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The other friends clearly didn’t have a problem with paying their fair share.
This friend clearly expects everyone else to bend over backwards for him, but of course, he never feels inclined to return the favor.
The driver pointed out that this particular friend has been coasting for some time now, and that needs to stop one way or another.
Keeping score only works if you remember your own tab too. In the end, the math just wasn’t mathing.