Splitting the bill.

[fluxrad]

I was in speech class tonight and one of the girls did her pursuasive speech on courtesy and politeness. Most of her suggestions were standard fare: don't park like an [censored]; cleanup your dog's [censored]; let the people with two items through in the line if you've got a cart-full. But her last suggestion got me. It was as follows: if you've just been out for dinner or drinks with friends, you should always add 20% on the bill and split it evenly between the total number of diners. Her logic was that, in the end, cost evens out (at one point, she suggested something along the lines of "If one of your friends ate more, maybe next time you're out you can order the steak and a glass of wine.")

I couldn't disagree more. Now if everyone's total came to approximately the same, I can certainly see a case for simply splitting the bill. But I don't think it's right, for example, to try to split a $100 bill among 5 people when one guy may have ordered $10 worth of food and drinks while another ordered $30. At least when my GF and I go out with our friends we always split the bill based on who had what. Sure, it creates a bit of work for our waiter or waitress, but we always tip well and no one gets the shaft when it comes to paying for my $20 steak au poivre. Am I wrong here?

Of course, there is the third way (and in my mind, a way that is at least as equitable as the first option with the added benefit of keeping everyone from splurging). We did this once, but my friends copped out after that because of the fear of...idunno: At the end of the meal, everyone throws their credit card into a hat. The leader then holds the hat above head level and shakes the cards up. When the waiter/waitress comes by to collect the bill, the hat is held above their head and they select one card at random. Loser pays...

So of these three, what's the best way to pay the bill?