Whenever I go out with a large group of people, it seems there’s never an easy way to split up the check at the end.

Unless your boss is treating everyone or you have an ostentatiously wealthy friend, it seems like everyone’s trying their best to divvy up who owes what without stepping on any toes or aggravating anyone’s ego.

Then there’s always the fact that everyone has either only twenties from the ATM or their credit card on them.

It’s a situation ripe for awkwardness. I once had a friend who would take the check when it came, look it up and down, and then tell everyone else what they owed. For some reason, he always wound up paying the least.

Then there was the time I met a friend’s new boyfriend when we all went out to dinner. I’m not a big math guy. I’m more the verbal, visual type. So I looked at the bill and put in what I thought I owed.

“I’m sorry,” the guy said. “I think you owe a little more than that.”

Ouch!

Someone told me recently that when the bill comes they like to push it toward the person across the table from them, all while saying, “No, no. You got it last time.”

They continue pushing the bill to the other person, “Seriously, it’s me this time. You’re too generous.”

I wondered if anyone else had any good “bill time” stories or good ways of dealing with this inevitable dining situation. Post them below if you do.