Bolding mine.
Of course it’s easy enough to find an $8 entree (or even $6 if you get a burger), but when you add to that tax, tip, and possibly a drink, that is at least $10.
I’ve seen quite a few posters make this statement, and after re-reading the OP, I really can’t see how people interpret her statement thusly. The OPs statement, with my empasis, about sushi:
Given the OP later told of her love of sushi, even the cheap stuff, it’s obvious that money is an issue, even for sushi. It’s just that she will reach a little deeper into her pockets on rare occassion to scare up the extra $5 for a really cheap sushi meal.
I’m always dumbfounded as to how posters find a meaningless aside and latch onto it like a doberman onto Elvis’ teddy bear.
Well I learned something today.
That “tony” means “Marked by an elegant or exclusive manner or quality”.
I’m 46 and have never heard that word used before (other than a nickname for Anthony).
FWIW, there are no sub-$10 dinners here on Long Island either.
I’m just still in awe that 10 to 15$ is ‘those prices’ and that it buys sushi that wouldn’t be more suitably labeled ‘bait’.
I don’t make a ton of money, but seriously, I still have a total inability to see 15$ a person as ‘expensive.’
If I’m buying somebody dinner, I’m expecting the cost of their dinner to be at least 25, more if there are alcoholic drinks involved. I tend to start thinking 'expensive' when the per person cost is going to be 40 or more.
It’s not about leaving people out. There’s things I enjoy doing and I happen to be able to afford to do those things. I’m not going to stop doing them because some people can’t afford it.
Drachillix has some dear friends that call and suggest dinner together but “can we keep it cheap?” Since Denny’s isn’t my idea of food on purpose, and since we make far more than any of his friends, we have them meet us somewhere great and pick up the check. “We have to eat here; this restaurant makes me think of you, I’m so happy you can be with us, dinner is on me.” He does it so well.
We do live in California, I’m a RN, he owns a computer repair business and 10-15 dollars for dinner seems more than reasonable.
I don’t think you were being ditched but there was miscommunication. To them, they DID suggest a cheap place and you balked, seeming to them like you didn’t want to go out with them. I know thie wasn’t the case, but it would seem so to them.
Once again, Catsix beats me to the punch. Cheap sushi, of quality fit for more than chumming carp, is as rare a commodity here as it is anywhere else. The least expensive sushi I can think of in the area is from the Giant Eagle grocery store chain. They sell it from a limited number of stores. If you happen to be there when the chef is working, you’ll get it as fresh as Giant Eagle sushi is ever going to be. Otherwise…who knows how long it’s been sitting there? IIRC, California rolls and similar are around $6 to $8 a package for 6 pieces. Prices go up dramatically when things like tuna or prawn come into play. Now that I think about it, the $10-for-all-you-can-keep-down Chinese buffet places in the area are starting to put out stuff that looks like sushi from a distance, if you don’t let your gaze linger. I guess you could pay the $10 and eat all of that you can stand…
Anyhow, I’m still of the opinion that the OP is the one who did the ditching. Even at a $10-$15 a plate place, there are still sides and appetizers on the menu that are well within her stated desired price range. Seems to me that she used a couple dollars as an excuse to ditch these friends and is here looking for someone to say she did the right thing.
You’re 46, live on Long Island, and have never heard of the Tony Awards?
Scumpup, I agree and have said before that it was a bad decision by the OP, who stated she doesn’t do well on snap decisions.
However, the OP did list out a bunch of places where she gets cheap sushi, including an $11 buffet. Personally, I’ll just take the ipecac - it’s marginally faster. The OP is the one championing the cheap stuff (and considering $10-$15 meals “tony”). I’ve seen some lunch sushi shops that look like they cut the fish with a razor blade and portioned the rice with a tweezer - and I still wouldn’t have been able to spend under $10 had I chosen to lunch there.
And that’s really the main issue. My friends are very spontaneous and have done this before, not knowing my intense issues with decision making, or maybe just not realizing how difficult it is for me to ruminate on a decision and come to a salient conclusion. I had asked them earlier in the day where they were going and no decision had been reached. The decision was made while I was sitting in a panel (I sit in all the panels because I want to get my money’s worth) and sprung on me, so I think the $15 price tag was less “omfg that is so expensive!” than “you made this decision behind my back, you’re trying to trick me, and also, that’s kind of expensive.” It’s not really about the money at all, or at least, most of it. It’s about feeling yet again that I am not in control of anything and the anger I have at the spontaneous.
However, knowing I’ll get jumped on again, I’m not going to start another thread about that.
I assume I’m being whooshed here, as the Tony’s were named after Antoinette Perry.
You may be right…but if you expect every person in your life to be a “true friend”, you’ll have a lonely life.
Nor am I implying that you should. You would simply not propose any of those activities to one of your less affluent friends, no?
(I’m kidding: I know you don’t have any poor friends)
Well, if I am feeling cheap. A drink, fries and burger or chicken sandwhich from the dollar menu at McDonalds runs $3.23.
I have been strapped for cash and told my friends (who were heading out to get a $15 dollar steak) to swing by McDonalds, drop 1-2 bucks on a burger or two, eat it on the way to the resturaunt and gone in just to get a drink and hang out with my friends.
I make more than my friends and have less expenses, so I usually end up eating less expensively when I’m with them. There’s been a lot of times I want to hit a sit-down restaurant and get something for $15, but we often just end up doing McDonald’s. I know my friends don’t often have a lot of money, so if I suggest a sit-down place, they’ll make it clear it’s a McDonald’s night and it’s all okay, food is food, I’m not a connoisseur. But I’m surprised you don’t have a rapport with your friends when it comes to this, money was one of the first things we worked out when I met people.
If these are close friends, let them know your problem with decision-making. Maybe they’ll help you. Why would you think your friends are trying to trick you?
If you can’t deal with spontaneous decisions, tell them you’ll need more notice next time. You don’t *have * to attend events that make you uncomfortable.
They tried to trick you? They “went behind your back?” What the hell? It’s just going out to eat. Considering they don’t know that you have issues, that’s a HELL of a lot you seem to expect of them.
Not to kick you when you’re down, but meant as a helpful comment:
You sound like my wife. When we have an important decision, she will have these hours long internal conversations with herself. Apparently, I’m involved in these conversations, at least in her head. Finally, when we regroup and try to come to a consensus, she assumes that I was in on her inner monologue and will be disappointed in me if I come to a different decision, because the Fiveyearlurker in her head clearly agreed with her and understood her rationale.
It’s possible you overthought the situation, and your friends were simply not privvy to all of the information that was in your noggin.
And not to kick you while you’re…well, I guess not down, since you’re still married to her, but…
I could not, would not, live with your wife. I could not, would not, in a house. I could not, would not, with a mouse. It’s nothing against her or you, but I was getting totally aggravated just reading your description. :D:D:D
Please, by now, I pretty much AM privvy to the inner monologue going on in her head. It’s frightening how much you can understand what is going on in another person’s mind.