Tom and Jerry are co-workers. They do not socialize away from work, but have known each other for the past 5 years and will occasionally eat lunch together at a nearby restaurant. So one day, Jerry invites Tom to go to lunch at this restaurant. Tom orders an entrée that he would normally order and Jerry orders the same entrée. They both drink water. When the waiter comes with the check, he asks if the bill will be on separate checks. Jerry, says to just put it on one check and hands the waiter a plastic punch card. Jerry tells Tom, that they can just split it between them, which they have done in the past.
When the check arrives, it appears to be for only one lunch. Tom looks puzzled. Jerry retrieves the punch card and tells Tom his card allows the holder to order one menu item and get a second menu item of equal or lesser value for free, and that’s how he paid for his lunch. Jerry does however leave a small tip for the waiter, for his share of the meal. Jerry tells Tom that his card will allow him to get one punch a month for a year, so they will have to come here again in a month.
I would think that Jerry was leading the pack in the “Miser of the Year” award. I wouldn’t say anything…but if I were Jerry, I’d offer to pay for half of Tom’s lunch. Apparently Jerry isn’t really interested in socializing, but in getting a free lunch, and he’s using Tom to get that free lunch.
If I was Tom, I’d probably have other things to do at lunchtime, rather than go to lunch with Jerry. Unless Jerry is a blast to be around.
If I were Tom, I might write Jerry off as somewhat of a jerk – especially in regards to the “have to come here again in a month” part – and have “other plans” the next time he asks.
Or depending on the relationship, I might say to Jerry, “Dude. If it weren’t for me, your lunch wouldn’t be free. How’s about we split the bill and each of us gets a half-price lunch?” I have co-workers I don’t socialize with outside of work that I’d be perfectly comfortable suggesting that arrangement to.
They didn’t, though??? I mean, it looks like Tom paid full price for his lunch. It’s…odd. I agree with Lynn; I wouldn’t go to lunch anymore with him. Not that I can’t pay for my own lunch, but if that’s all I am doing and being used by someone else to get a free lunch, then I may as well go alone.
I’d be pissed off. Jerry’s invited me to lunch and then basically said “I’ve got a Buy One Get One Free Offer - so you buy one and I’ll get the free one”. Except he’s not even had the grace to come out and say that up front - he’s let me get my money out before revealing the offer. That’s low.
It sounds like Jerry is offering to split the cost of the meal here?
If he isn’t, he should be, and Tom should tell him that. That’s how my coworkers and I do things when we go out to lunch (which we nearly always do with coupons, special offers, etc) – hand them over to the server, see how much we get knocked off the final bill, then split whatever we have to pay evenly.
I wouldn’t react at all. Tom and Jerry have eaten lunch together at this restaurant occasionally for years, so the idea that Jerry was only able to get his free lunch because of Tom rings pretty hollow to me. Jerry got his free lunch 99.5% because he had a punch card and 0.5% because Tom was with him. Tom enjoyed his lunch, he’d been with Jerry numerous times before and Jerry could go with anybody else and get the same deal, hardly a great sacrifice on Tom’s part.
It might have been nice to offer to split the lunch, and I might if I were in that situation, but we have no idea where he got his punch card. Maybe he bought it specifically to lower his average lunch time costs. Maybe his wife bought it for him because she knows he loves eating at that place but they can’t afford it right now. There are so many potential reasons and I don’t really care about any of them.
Bottom line - if I were eating lunch with someone anyway and they had a buy one get one free coupon I’d see it as equivalent to a gift certificate for a free lunch. As long as they earned it on their own they should be free to enjoy it on their own, regardless of the fact that my presence was technically necessary.
I guess it depends on how the punchcard works. If Tom’s lunch made it so Jerry’s meal was free (and he knew that), then yes Jerry’s a dick. But if Jerry didn’t know that Tom’s meal would make it free, or if there’s no way Tom’s meal gave him the freebie then it’s like paying with a gift certificate and no, no dickery there.
As Tom, my first reaction on arrival of the check is to throw out cash for half plus tip. Look only at the total. Make Jerry explain in detail why he’s not putting down money on the check. Furrow my brow.
Then… Tom goes to the restaurant often enough regardless, right? So he should get a punch card of his own, and invite Jerry to come along. Turn the tables.
If the combination isn’t enough to make Jerry revise his thinking–no more lunches with Jerry.