There's an unwritten rule when heading over to a friend's house for dinner: always take a bottle of something – and/or ask if they need help. Well, one woman's bizarre experience caused quite the stir online when she revealed she was billed for the homecooked meal.
In a viral tweet, Amber quizzed whether the scenario was "weird" – and speaking on behalf of the tens of thousands of responses, the answer is yes.
She shared how the host cooked up penne alla vodka, a vodka-based pasta dish turned viral TikTok hit, thanks to Gigi Hadid. Amber explained that she "ate a couple [of] servings and they Venmo requested [her] $20."
She paid the 'bill' and hasn't spoken to them since."This makes me not want to accept offerings in the future," she said. Many people speculated the awkward encounter happened in California after many shared similar experiences. And, they were correct.
Got invited to someone\u2019s place for dinner and they charged me for it\u2026.this is weird, right?— Amber Nelson (@Amber Nelson) 1646938219
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Masses of social media users believed the move to be incredibly rude, but surprisingly, many had been through similar experiences in the past.
One man shared how he was served different food to everyone else at the dinner table. The host told him he had "to earn [his] food in her house" before asking him to leave so everyone could eat dessert.
Another unsuspecting victim was told to pay forward $75 after attending a dinner party serving lobster. "It did not go over well," he added.
A third shared that their friend's sister, a jazz singer, got married and was planning on singing at the wedding reception. So, what did she do? The bride-to-be sold tickets to her wedding – even to immediate family.
Invited to an outdoor party at a work colleague\u2019s house. Got there they came around asking for $5 a person. If you didn\u2019t pay you couldn\u2019t use the bathroom.— Maggie \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Maggie \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1646957612
this actually happened to me last week. it was a ground of friends and the host asked us to cashapp her for the food she offered\u2026— seb \ud83e\udd34\ud83c\udffd (@seb \ud83e\udd34\ud83c\udffd) 1646972574
This is far more common than some probably realize. This has happened to me 4 times. And all four I got invited to dinner personally only to receive an invoice by text afterwards. \n\n*one of those times I didn\u2019t even eat because I don\u2019t eat meat*— Mohammed SHK (@Mohammed SHK) 1646962992
What, what?! How? Like a bill at the end? Or they were like \u201cyou want potatoes? Venmo me $5 real quick and I\u2019ll give you the spatula\u201d— Alexis Guerreros (@Alexis Guerreros) 1646939104
A friend once invited me over for dinner & wouldn't offer me a drink because I didn't bring my own booze. My bad I guess for not being a polite guess and showing up w/ wine or something, but still feels weird...? I just sat there drinking water while she made herself a Manhattan.— Stanley YelNaatz (@Stanley YelNaatz) 1646951333
While the dinner setting was unusual, some people shunned the tweet, saying it didn't justify "public shaming."
"It is unusual, but I don't feel it needs public shaming. And I also don't think it's this much of a crime. Hosting people can be expensive," they said. I've never personally asked anyone to share the cost but feel fortunate that I don't need to."
Next time you head out to a friend's for dinner, just make sure you take cash for a tip.
Indy100 reached out to Amber for comment.
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