People rally around man who skipped friend's birthday dinner because cheapest entree was $41

Birthdays are undoubtedly a special occasion. However, at the same time, it’s an expensive affair not only for the person celebrating it but also for the guests attending it. They have to spend on gifts, travel to the location and sometimes pool in for the celebration. Sean Lans—who goes by @seanlans on TikTok—shared why he didn’t want to attend a friend’s birthday dinner. He begins the video by saying, “I think it’s not fair when someone chooses a really expensive restaurant for a birthday dinner.”

He decided to skip the dinner, which caused a disagreement with his friend. He continued, “For his birthday, he chose a restaurant and the cheapest entree was $41. And so, I didn’t go and now he’s mad at me. The reason I decided not to go was because the plan was dinner and then go out and the place he chose to go out to already had a $35 ticket and I am a little bit broke as it is. So, I said, ‘Okay, I’ll skip the dinner and then just go out,’ I thought that was a good compromise because I would still be seeing him on his birthday.” After calculating the money and the quantity of the food in a pricey restaurant, he decided to meet his friend after dinner. Moreover when he met his friend after dinner, their mutual friend said, “he was kind of mad that you didn’t go and I said: Yeah, I don’t know what to say. I’m not looking to spend the equivalent of a week of grocery money on a single night out.”

Lans shared that others also didn’t want to go to this restaurant, as nobody wanted to spend a lot of money on small portions with awful taste. He concluded his video and said, “I guess I was just the only one to speak up and said: yeah, that doesn’t really work for me, but I’ll meet you out after. Just read the room. Yeah, it’s your birthday. But you should know if your friends are going to be happy with where you choose. So yeah, I stand by my decision. I don’t think your birthday is about doing the biggest, fanciest thing. It’s about having fun with your friends and doing something you like.”

People could completely resonate with what Lans shared. @wynncess.mp4 commented, “If someone is unable to attend my boujee birthday dinner, that’s fine. I’ll schedule another affordable dinner date for us to celebrate together.” @fragilecapricorn7 shared, “It’s his birthday, so he doesn’t need to change plans, but also you don’t need to go if you’re tight on money. He should understand that at least.” @liam45689 expressed, “You did the right thing. Not everyone has unlimited money to spend like your friend.”

While talking to Bored Panda, Lans said he was surprised to see how many people expect the host to pay for everyone, “but this seems to be due to different cultural expectations.” “I was also surprised that many people think $41 is reasonable to spend on a burger and several people said that I should’ve spent the year saving up for this friend’s birthday dinner; I disagree with both of those perspectives, but it goes to show how much discourse there is on this topic.”

Lans believes that everyone should pay for their meal as there are so many people and it is unfair to split evenly. However, he would like the host to be understanding of the financial situation of his friends. “The birthday person has the right to choose what they want to do to celebrate, but it should be within reason because a real friend will not knowingly put their friends into an uncomfortable financial situation,” he said. “Involving them in the planning process is a great way to achieve this because allowing everyone to have a say on the restaurant can give someone an opportunity to raise any concerns before the actual event," Lans added.

You can follow Sean Lans (@seanlans) on TikTok for money-saving content.