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Splitting a bill should be simple math, five people, five equal shares, but one bowling outing turned that basic logic into a full-blown argument.

A group of five, two couples and one single friend, spent about two hours bowling on a single lane at a venue that charges by the hour rather than by games or headcount.

So when the bill came, one of the guys suggested splitting it three ways instead of five, treating each couple as a single unit.

The big catch? It meant the lone single friend would be covering a noticeably larger share than everyone else.

Now he’s stuck wondering whether refusing to subsidize two girlfriends’ bowling costs actually makes him the unreasonable one.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for not splitting the bill that makes me pay more than I have to?

Me and 4 other people went bowling the other day. It was “Mike” and his girlfriend, “Dylan” with his girlfriend, and just me.

We essentially bowled on 1 lane for about 2 hours, and this place charges by the hour and not by the games played or amount of people.

But when the bill came, so did the drama.

So when it came time to pay for the game, Dylan said we should split it 3 ways, not 5.

I was confused, as a total of 5 people were equally playing bowling, and thus splitting it 3 ways would make my bill higher than what it should be.

The whole proposal really doesn’t seem fair to him.

Now I understand Dylan and Mike are in relationships, and they are the guys that typically pay for their girlfriends, so I understand leaving the girls aside when calculating costs, but in this case I’m the only single guy here, so why am I subsidizing the costs for my friend’s girlfriend?

But his opposition is met with some major pushback.

When I said this I was called cheap and broke to try and humiliate me. My friends said since they are in a relationship they are essentially a “package,” so splitting it 5 ways doesn’t make sense to them. I never heard anyone else do this.

Dylan said that all his other friends do it like this, so he assumed I would do the same.

Now he’s not sure what to do next.

Not sure if he’s gaslighting me, but I’ve never been in a situation where I had to pay for my friend’s girlfriend.

Sounds like his friends are trying to pull a fast one on him.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a disabled man who is considering cutting off his friends because they take advantage of him.

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These “friends” are only out for themselves.

Love can do amazing things, but it has its limits.

The whole “cheap” accusation was pretty rich.

Math doesn’t change based on relationship status, and five people playing an equal amount of bowling means five people should be splitting an equal share of an hourly bill, regardless of who’s dating whom.

Calling someone cheap for pointing out that basic fact doesn’t actually make the math wrong.

It’s clear his “friends” just wanted to distract from an uncomfortable reality that two people were expecting a third to cover part of their costs.

He may be single, but he can still do basic math.

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Author

Benjamin Cottrell

Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.