Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

Post by losteverything » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 1:15 PM UTC

algesten wrote: post #128

code_duck wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never heard of it except as an obscure Paypal competitor. And, it turns out it's essentially the same service as Paypal and is even owned by Paypal, since 2014. I agree that services like this only serve to fill gaps in antiquated banking systems. From what I understand, in Australia, for instance, people can send money easily for free between bank accounts and do so routinely without 3rd party services - includ…

I remember checks from the 80s, my mum/dad used to have them. I never owned a check book.

Post by throwaway91111 » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 1:22 PM UTC

bogomipz wrote: post #232

Swizec wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of restaurants are won't split bills too many ways because it takes time and impacts table turnover. When you have a line out the door, turnover matters. Back in Slovenia bill splitting doesn't exist. To me it's a completely American thing. The best they can do in Slovenia is charge everyone individually for their items, but that's not really bill splitting.

>"A lot of restaurants are won't split bills too many ways because it takes time and impacts table turnover." How much time time does it really take? Let's compare it to a single check with with cash as the form of payment. Some diner at the table needs to go through the bill and and collect the money or else the bill gets passed around and then everyone antes up their portion, there always come confusion about what…

Post by bb611 » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 1:55 PM UTC

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #334

sethrin wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sigh. This reminds me of an ex-roommate. So I worked at a factory and he was a notary or some such function connected with real estate, working from home. One day I was running late for work, which was maybe fifteen minutes away by bicycle, and asked if he didn't mind giving me a lift. About halfway there he mentioned casually, "Oh, just so you know, I'll be billing you at my normal rate ($60/hr) for this ride." Than…

That's a weird comment on his part, but I think there is often a large mismatch between the cost that a carless person assigns to "bumming a ride" and the cost that the car owner assigns to that. If you are not a car owner, you may not realize how much of a pain in the ass it is to stop whatever you are doing and play taxi.

Post by bb611 » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 2:12 PM UTC

glangdale wrote: post #219

This seems to be a generational and geographical gap. Speaking parochially, among relatively well-off 40-ish Australians acting like this would mark you as some kind of cheapskate space alien. I remember being similarly surprised at the 'down to the last penny' bill-splitting when I first got to the US, but, as a lot of people remark on in other threads, many of the social gatherings weren't really very long term (e.…

Post by lotsofpulp » Mon, Jul 24, 2017, 2:24 PM UTC

majormajor wrote: post #302

gozur88 wrote: post #98

>"It’s making people less generous and chivalrous,” Ms. Pennoyer said. “It used to be you’d go to a restaurant, and you’d put down your credit cards and split it 50-50, even if one person had steak and one had chicken. But now people pay exactly to the cent." Spoken like the person who always orders steak. I don't drink, so I'm always irritated when I go out to dinner with a bunch of people and someone says "let's ju…

I don't drink, and rarely have the most expensive entree, and hate it when people try to figure out the exact perfect split of a check. It somehow always takes longer than it should, if we're all friends here making roughly the same amount, let's just split it evenly. Dining out with friends isn't solely about turning dollars into calories.