THE DRINKING PRESSURE

A birthday dinner for one of the friend group turned into a bill dispute after a 23-year-old was pushed into ordering a drink she never wanted, then refused to pay for it.

It happened yesterday at Lily's 21st birthday dinner at a fancy restaurant. The poster, a 23-year-old woman in a group of five friends aged 21 to 26, says she does not drink, has never been a drinker, and never plans to be. That detail mattered less to the table than it should have.

According to the poster, Lily brought up the idea that she should buy an alcoholic beverage. The other friends jumped in, too, telling her to get one. She said no. Then no again. The waiter came over, but was sent away because she still had not agreed.

For about five minutes, the pressure kept coming.

Eventually, the poster gave in and said yes, though she says she did not want to. A drink was suggested for "beginners," and she says she immediately told them she did not want it and already knew she would not like it. Still, the drink was ordered and brought to the table.

One sip was enough. She disliked it right away and stopped. The others told her to keep trying it. She refused.

Then the bill arrived.

That was when she separated her meal from the drink and said she would only pay for the food. She says she had not willingly ordered the alcohol, so she was not paying for it. The group pushed back and argued that she should pay anyway. Lily then said, "I could've said no.."

The poster got up and left the restaurant.

Before leaving, she sent money for her meal to Lily and made her position plain: if Lily or anyone else was not going to buy the drink, then they should not have begged her to get it.

Her husband backed her up and told her she was not in the wrong, and that she should distance herself from the group.

The four friends have kept texting her since. The birthday dinner is over, but the drink argument is not.