Hey! Pay what you eat for lah!

We went out with some people* for a meal someday at a non-particular restaurant (except that it's prices were particular).

As usual, Olof and I were pretty modest with our order, meaning we did not order the most expensive on the menu and only the amount that we are confident of finishing. Our company of acquaintances, on the other hand, ordered a fanciful variety of dishes for themselves as well as their little ones.

Fine. It is, after all, your personal taste preferences. In a free world, you should be able to eat what you like.

And indeed our company of acquaintances took that ideology quite literally, except that they thought they can eat for FREE too, or at least partially paid for by their honest, modest and hardworking counterparts.

Perfect. So we paid 20% more than what eventually ended up in our stomaches.

I wish I had the courage to tell them straight in the face, in my most Singaporean to-the-point manner, "Oooii! Pay for what you eat lah! Why are we splitting the bill equally when obviously you guys ordered more stuff than we did?!"

Am I being petty? Am I? Am I?

Are they feigning ignorance? Are they? Are they?

Now I know why one of the couple acquaintances on that day asked us out for dinner a few times.

They are the clever ones. At times of economic crisis, you just have to be innovative of how to maximise inflow to and minimise outflow from your purse.

*I thought twice before deciding not to reveal who these people are, since there is a chance they may chance upon this post. But then again, if they indeed chance upon this post, I believe they will be able to induce from the writings that I AM TALKING ABOUT THEM!*