I recently attended a colleague’s birthday dinner at a fancy restaurant, bringing a thoughtful gift to celebrate the occasion. However, when I received a text message asking me to pay $190 plus tip for my share of the bill, I was taken aback.
I felt that the gift I had brought was a generous gesture, and I didn’t think it was fair to expect me to pay for an expensive dinner on top of that. So, I decided to respond to the text message with a lighthearted comment, implying that the gift was my contribution to the celebration.
The next day, I walked into work to find my colleagues staring at me, and one of them rushed up to me to share some gossip. Apparently, someone had refused to pay their share of the dinner bill, and everyone was buzzing about it. I kept quiet, not revealing that I was the one who had sparked the controversy.
But the real surprise came when I found the gift I had brought to the birthday dinner sitting on my desk. My colleague had returned it, which I felt was a thoughtless gesture. In my opinion, it’s a breach of etiquette to expect guests to bring a gift and pay for an expensive dinner, especially when you’re the one hosting the celebration. Am I wrong to feel this way?
