Woman frustrated at a greedy friend's behavior teaches her a lesson on a restaurant date

When it comes to money, most people would do just about anything to avoid a conversation about it, especially with close partners or friends. The topic of money makes people-pleasers fiddly while also puckering up unnecessary tension. In most cases, this tension can be resolved simply with clear-cut communication, but sometimes, blurry boundaries of what’s “yours” and what’s “mine” can make the relationship sour. Even if someone is well-off, tackling a friend who always “forgets” their wallet can be unnerving, even frustrating. When a 28-year-old woman, u/truthinreverse, realized she was taking needless stress due to a friend like this, she decided to teach her a lesson.

"Last night, I went to dinner with a close friend and decided to leave my wallet at home," the woman described in the post. She wrote that this one friend of hers had a habit of forgetting her wallet each time they went out to wine and dine. "I thought this time, if she conveniently forgot again, it might finally push her to take responsibility," she said. "I felt like I was being taken advantage of and I was completely fed up," she said.

"As expected, when the check came, she patted her pockets, rummaged through her purse, and said, 'Oh my God! I forgot my wallet! Where the hell is it?'" the woman recalled. "It's the same song and dance every time." This time, however, she didn't pull the card out or foot the bill. Instead, she prepared to endure the silence without feeling the need to fill it up with reasons or explanations. She responded with a "me too." In response, "She (the friend) looked at me with the most disgusted expression I have ever seen, but then I could tell she started to panic."

"She was upset with me for 'putting her on the spot,' but I was frustrated by her repeated behavior. She told me I was a horrible person for publicly humiliating her." The woman concluded her post by adding that her friend paid the bill with ApplePay, clearly looking embarrassed. People in the comments pointed out why the friend did not use ApplePay to pay the bills in their earlier meetings. “She could’ve offered to ApplePay her half all those other times…but she didn’t. One of the best lessons I’ve learned is that I can drop toxic people from my life and it’s ok,” wrote u/MarionberryOK2874.

Some of them pressed her to never eat with this friend ever again. “Just stop going to eat with her,” said u/LetMeEatShrimp. “Just ask for separate checks,” u/JohnExcrement instructed. "However, grow a spine and tell her you're not paying for her, instead of being passive-aggressive. If she used ApplePay, she could have been paying for herself the entire time. She humiliated herself. I do admire your level of pettiness. You should drop this dead weight from your life," added u/Vandreeson. "I find it amusing how pissed off she is about you putting her on the spot. When she has done this exact thing to you repeatedly! Like, oh? It's suddenly an issue when it happens to you?" pointed out u/Seraphimm791.