AITAH for Not Paying for My Coworker’s Lunch? When $2 Turns Into $22: The Saga
Oh, honey, strap in because Roger’s about to take you on a rollercoaster ride of lunchtime pettiness, extortion, and just plain bad arithmetic. And if you’ve ever worked with anyone who thinks a $2 favor means you owe them your firstborn, this tale of woe and WTF is just the cup of tea you didn’t know you needed.
First Day: The $2 Mac and Cheese Debacle
Picture this: Our intrepid first responder, who we’ll call Sally, is hitching along with a different shift for training purposes. First stop? The holy grail of fast food indulgence—Chick-fil-A. Sally, being a figure-watching angel, orders a petite mac and cheese, all of $4. Her fellow responder, whom we’ll dub Mr. Entitlement, opts for a whole meal because guys like him can eat a horse and still have room for dessert.
The bill gets a fabulous 50% off, taking Sally’s order down to a humble $2. Mr. Generosity pipes up, “I’ll cover you.” Isn’t that sweet? Sally’s grateful, whispers a ‘thank you,’ and thinks that’s that. Oh, how naïve!
Second Day: The $22 Bistro Showdown
Fast forward to day two. Sally and Mr. Entitlement head to a posh local bistro, where Sally orders a modest $10 salad. Mr. Entitlement, true to his name, orders enough to feed a small country. When it’s time to pay, he goes, “She’s going to cover mine,” with the audacity of a man named Chad at a frat party.
Sally, cool as a cucumber, looks the cashier dead in the eye and says, “No, I will just be covering myself.” And here’s where the drama escalates faster than a soap opera during sweeps week. Mr. Entitlement is livid. He brings up yesterday’s $2 mac and cheese as if it’s the Magna Carta of meal negotiations.
Original story
This is genuinely the dumbest AITAH I’ve ever made/read, but here we are. I’m a first responder and was riding along with another shift for training purposes.
The first day we drove through chic fil a. I ordered a small Mac And cheese, in our area that’s about $4.
He ordered a whole meal. When we got to the window, they gave us 50% off making mine $2.
The guy I was riding with said “Don’t worry I’ll cover you”. Cool, thank you for covering my $2 I appreciate it lol.
Second day we went to a local bistro that’s decently pricey. I ordered a salad that was about $10.
His meal totaled out to just over $20. When we went to the register to pay he told them “She’s going to cover mine” while pointing at me.
To say I was appalled is an understatement. The cashier looked at me and I calmly stated “No, I will just be covering myself”.
The guy I was riding with got mad and started saying he covered me for lunch yesterday so it’s only right that I cover him. I’m not confrontational, but I’m also no punk lol.
I calmly stated “$2 does not constitute $22 (or whatever the total was). If you’d like me to give you $2 to cover my small side I ordered yesterday I will absolutely do that.
But I will not be paying for your meal” and handed my card to the cashier. He paid for his meal and we went outside where he refused to let me get into the vehicle.
He continued to argue and cause a scene in the parking lot. He told me I’m not longer allowed to ride with him, so I called for a supervisor.
Once the supervisor arrived he told them that he covered my lunch yesterday and that I refused to extend the same courtesy and that I embarrassed him and caused a scene and he no longer feels comfortable riding with me. I explained my side to the supervisor and apologized because this is literally so ridiculous lol.
The supervisor essentially said I was wrong because I should’ve just been respectful and paid for him like he did me. At this point I was pissed and told them this sounds like extortion and that I wasn’t going to be taken advantage of.
I told them that $2 is a whole lot different than $22. We’re first responders, we don’t make a lot of money.
I continued to say if he wanted me to buy him a drink from the gas station or give him $2 I had absolutely no problem doing so, but I was not going to be bullied into covering his meal because he covered mine. I ended up riding with someone else because obviously riding with him is no longer an option.
The person I switched to also said I was wrong and should’ve just paid for his meal. I don’t think I’m wrong here.
Had I known the previous day that I would be expected to pay for his expensive meal after paying for my $2 Mac and cheese I would’ve never let him cover me. I feel like since he put me on the spot, me putting him on the spot in return was only fair.
I don’t feel like I caused a scene, I wasn’t the one who argued and refused to unlock the doors. But now everyone’s saying that I’m not a team player and I embarrassed him as well as our place of work.
Am I wrong here? AITAH?