# Throwing money down and leaving **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 14, 2018, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563 "2018-08-14T02:57:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/21 "2018-08-24T03:44:59Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > As soon as he placed the order, his cell phone rang. He answered it, listened, hung up, and said to his date “We gotta go.”… What did you say on the phone to get him to leave so fast? “The jig’s up. Get outta town, NOW! Don’t wait for the calamari.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/22 "2018-08-24T05:48:50Z")
I’ve seen it happen, and done it, in situations where the price was known and the people involved knew each other. For example, the bar in my college. We had less than 500 total students, only 3 different prices (soda, coffee, sandwich) and the bartender had years to learn our faces. If he didn’t know you it was “payment first”. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/23 "2018-08-24T06:20:45Z")
I’ve done this at least twice. Once was an experience I’ve mostly forgotten/blocked out–interpersonal shit happening in a bad relationship and I wanted to escape. I remember throwing cash down on a table, too much of it so as to not stiff the wait staff, and bolting. Hadn’t thought of it at all until this thread surfaced the memory. The other time has always been vivid. I was in college, stoned as shit in a pizza place with three friends. We had just ordered sodas–perhaps $5 at most, this was some time ago. Friend #1 started to keel over from excess weed. We started dragging him out of the place while the (appropriately concerned) waitress offered to call an ambulance. I said no and tossed a 20 on the table to make her forget. My friend got by, that time. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/24 "2018-08-24T08:16:42Z")
Also, in movies, what’s with people sitting at a bar and getting served drinks all night and paying at the end. Does that really happen in the US? Here, you buy each drink as it’s served, nobody is going to give you credit like that, especially when you are sitting there potentially getting completely stonkered. I’d never just put down money, because there’s nothing to stop someone other than the wait staff picking it up and stealing it, then they’ll think you left without paying. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/25 "2018-08-24T11:16:56Z")
> [@blob](#): > > Also, in movies, what’s with people sitting at a bar and getting served drinks all night and paying at the end. Does that really happen in the US? Here, you buy each drink as it’s served, nobody is going to give you credit like that, especially when you are sitting there potentially getting completely stonkered. > > I’d never just put down money, because there’s nothing to stop someone other than the wait staff picking it up and stealing it, then they’ll think you left without paying. The bars I frequent will run a tab for anyone as long as they provide a credit card upfront, opening the tab. I’m a “regular”, and so they open a tab for me without a card. In bars where you are expected to pay for each drink, I’ve left cash on the bar while I make a quick trip to the bathroom. Nobody has ever bothered my cash. I wouldn’t drink in a bar where you had to worry about theft. A few years ago I was having a drink with my gf. She went to the ladies room. While she was away, I picked up her drink and took a quick taste to see what she was drinking. When she returned, a woman tapped her on the shoulder and whispered something to her. My gf later told me the woman had alerted her that I’d handled her glass while she was away. Apparently I looked like some sort of perv. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/26 "2018-08-24T11:27:10Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The bars I frequent will run a tab for anyone as long as they provide a credit card upfront, Thanks. That makes sense, they can bill your card at the end (or if you disappear/fall under the table). I don’t go to bars, and when I did it would have been all cash, maybe things are different now and you can put it on a card as you describe. ---
**Author:** ![BlueOhio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BlueOhio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueOhio)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/27 "2018-08-24T13:46:09Z")
I had to do this once at an airport restaurant where all of sudden they announced ‘last call’ for my flight over the loudspeaker. I really didn’t know what to so I left enough cash for the order + a very good tip and hightailed it to the gate. I think it was the right move rather than waiting for the busy server. It certainly looked dramatic. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/28 "2018-08-24T14:32:41Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > …A few years ago I was having a drink with my gf. She went to the ladies room. While she was away, I picked up her drink and took a quick taste to see what she was drinking. When she returned, a woman tapped her on the shoulder and whispered something to her. My gf later told me the woman had alerted her that I’d handled her glass while she was away. Apparently I looked like some sort of perv. That woman did your gf a solid. Women have to think about their safety in a way that men often don’t and them looking out for one another is part of that. Back on topic, my favorite throwing down the money and leaving scene in a movie is the Dude leaving Walter at the coffee shop, fumbling with his keys, money, a joint and a severed toe. ---
**Author:** ![PackerMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@PackerMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PackerMan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/29 "2018-08-24T17:27:15Z")
> [@digs](#): > > What did you say on the phone to get him to leave so fast? > > “The jig’s up. Get outta town, NOW! Don’t wait for the calamari.” Leave the calamari. Take the cannoli.😛 ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/30 "2018-08-24T18:34:54Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > In bars where you are expected to pay for each drink, I’ve left cash on the bar while I make a quick trip to the bathroom. Nobody has ever bothered my cash. I wouldn’t drink in a bar where you had to worry about theft. In the days when I spent more time in bars, I’d often leave cash out on the bar in a joint I knew. A guy once actually swiped my money and ran–he was off and out the door before I knew what had happened and there was no way I was going to catch him. The bartender comped me some free ones to make up for it. This was in a cop bar, by the way, the guy had some stones; lucky for him there were no cops in at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/31 "2018-08-24T20:22:14Z")
Wow. Yeah, there are bars I visit where guys leave their cash, cellphone, and sunglasses on the bar when they hit the men’s (There are women, but they tend to take their stuff). In this bar strangers tend to draw eyes. I can’t imagine someone trying to grab and dash. Plus there are video cams everywhere now. Almost feel sorry for the riff-raff. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/32 "2018-08-25T05:41:07Z")
An anecdote from close to Xmas in 1991 at a trendy bar in the very trendy Roppongi district of Tokyo. I was a newly minted MBA just starting a professional career in investment banking and working in the research department at UBS Tokyo (actually it was SBC, which later merged with UBS). The equity derivative traders let me tag along on a Friday night. Small place, a couple of small tables of Japanese and some English blokes at the bar. We were a bit loud, prolly too much for the bar. Some of the Japanese were giving us the stink eye. I was the only one that spoke any Japanese in our group (and I was only a casual conversation speaker level). One of the English guys said pretty loudly “bloody septics\*.” One of the Chicago native guys in our party, understood the insult, shouted out “bartender, a round for the house.” The English tossers said some other snarky comment, and the rejoinder was “bartender, two rounds for the house.” And then tossed a wad of 10,000 yen notes onto the bar, which was probably around $5,000 worth. “Get everyone a couple of drinks and keep the change.” The bartending staff was pretty stoked having just been tipped a couple grand US, the Japanese customers were kinda amused at the gaijin in-fighting, and the English gents came over to say they were a “little out of order, peace mate.” Me, I was ecstatic being out with the players, young and stupid enough to fight for fun, and in the moment found it amusing as all get out. Charlie was the guy that did the throw down. He was short, bald, wore coke bottle glasses, and would say “I may be short, bald and blind, but I can control not be fat.” His housing allowance was larger than my annual salary then, he was prolly worth $10M net, and was pulling down $1m/year based on his trades. The $5k was complete chump change to him, and to be fair, in Tokyo it was extravagant for the bar bill but not insanely so. I’m still not sure if it was a dick move given the size of the bartender tip, the bemusement of the Japanese clientele, and busting a couple of Pommy Bastards taking the piss. Anyhoo, a pretty memorable Friday night. \*It’s rhyming cockney slang. Septic tank rhymes with Yank aka Yankee aka American. Most Americans don’t understand this, and in my experience, an inordinately large number of Englishmen seem to find it hilarious they can call Americans shit to their faces and no one understands. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/33 "2018-08-25T12:41:33Z")
So you’re saying there was a fight? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/34 "2018-08-27T15:31:48Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > It’s rhyming cockney slang. Septic tank rhymes with Yank aka Yankee aka American. Most Americans don’t understand this, and in my experience, an inordinately large number of Englishmen seem to find it hilarious they can call Americans shit to their faces and no one understands. Off-topic, but I have always been been baffled by Cockney rhyming slang. When it’s explained it makes sense but I have never been able to parse the chain unaided. Is there a list somewhere of the more egregious ones? Just so I know when to take offense. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/35 "2018-08-27T21:34:38Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Off-topic, but I have always been been baffled by Cockney rhyming slang. When it’s explained it makes sense but I have never been able to parse the chain unaided. Is there a list somewhere of the more egregious ones? Just so I know when to take offense. You don’t take offense. You buy them a drink. Offense is taken when they start being polite to you. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2018, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/36 "2018-08-28T03:43:05Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > You don’t take offense. You buy them a drink. > > Offense is taken when they start being polite to you. bwahahahahahaha. Top 100 list here: [https://londontopia.net/londonism/fun-london/language-top-100-cockney-rhyming-slang-words-and-phrases/](https://londontopia.net/londonism/fun-london/language-top-100-cockney-rhyming-slang-words-and-phrases/) ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@MonkeyCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyCat)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2018, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/37 "2018-08-28T03:55:30Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I see this in movies and TV shows all the time. People are eating at a restaurant. Something comes up, they toss some money on the table, and leave. > > Almost never do I see anyone actually waiting for the bill in a scene, yet I can’t recall ever seeing anyone in real life paying without getting the bill first. > > Does this actually ever happen in real life? Do you do it? Have you seen it? What do you do, just take a guess at the amount on the check? What if you’re wrong? > > Has anyone who has been a server seen this? Is it okay with you? > > Is this just one of those on-screen things, like starting and ending phone conversations without a hello or goodbye? My money is on your final guesstimate. Just like how actors jarringly hangup on one another and play like it’s totally normal, I would think it’s a tactic to keep the illusion of momentum going in a storyline. Much like walking mindlessly through hallways and seemingly never reaching a destination/prolonged dialogue in suspenseful dire moments/drivers in vehicles who almost never glance out the windshield but instead look at everyone in the car. They don’t want you to grow bored, I think. They minimize the interruptions. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/38 "2018-08-29T13:49:04Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Top 100 list here: [https://londontopia.net/londonism/fun-london/language-top-100-cockney-rhyming-slang-words-and-phrases/](https://londontopia.net/londonism/fun-london/language-top-100-cockney-rhyming-slang-words-and-phrases/) What? No berk? Even I know that one. Surprised as hell when it showed up in the live _101 Dalmations_. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/39 "2018-08-30T05:25:55Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > You don’t take offense. You buy them a drink. > > Offense is taken when they start being polite to you. That’s \*Mister \*Seppo to you, mate! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563/40 "2018-08-30T13:24:35Z")
I’ve never “thrown money down” but I have left money to pay bill+tax+tip without collecting the bill plenty of times. After all, if it’s a familiar haunt where I’m ordering the same thing, and I know the final bill is, say, $14.95, there is no need to wait to find out what I owe if I’m in a hurry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-money-down-and-leaving/819563.md?page=1)