Lifestyle News: Great Article on CNN About Expensive Birthday Dinners

Good Afternoon Bloggers - Here's our first lifestyle posting. It's called "Welcome to my party - now pay up!" and I think it sums up so many bad experiences we've all had while going to birthday dinners with our friends and acquaintances. We post this to remember all those bad and expensive birthday dinner situations - and never go through them again.

Article Excerpt:
"When the bill came," Bowman says, the birthday girl "smiled and made a big production by way of a toast, saying, 'Thank you all so much for my lovely birthday dinner. I really do appreciate it. You guys are great. Here's to you!' Then she just sat there, waiting for us to decide how to split the bill." The bill for the birthday girl and her seven "guests" came to a whopping $3,450, which someone suggested splitting evenly. That worked out to $500 per person, plus tip. "I almost started crying," says Bowman, a municipal employee in Oakland, California. "My heart was racing; my face felt hot. I was embarrassed, humiliated and angry for having been put in that position in the first place. I wasn't told that I would be helping to pay for her dinner." When the bill was being passed around, Bowman panicked. "I simply put down $50 near my plate and excused myself to go to the restroom," she says. "I walked right by the restroom and out the front door."

(Read the whole article at: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/09/10/lw.pay.for.my.party/index.html)

I try not to get caught in these little traps anymore, so I would be curious about what other bloggers do. This one comes to us courtesy of our Hollywood Reporter - a Rant & Raver himself - Anonymous Contributor #1. Enjoy - Michael