Are you going out to eat today? The Awl provides this helpful guide to splitting the check at a restaurant. Writer Neel Shah helpfully devises different rules for people over and under the age of 25. Or maybe for people who are or aren’t poor. Whatever the case, there’s a social contract involved, and if you only pay what you owe down to the last cent, you’re sort of a cheap jerk. Or under 25.

Here’s how it breaks down if you’re over 25:

When you agreed to go out to dinner with your friends, you implicitly agreed to the following social contract: “I, (your name), hereby agree that when the bill comes, I will pay my share of the bill, calculated as follows: Total cost divided by # of people, regardless of who got what and how many. I further agree not to publicly complain about this methodology, even if I get a little screwed, because there will be times in the future when what I end up paying is considerably less than the dollar value of what I eat/drank. It evens out over time. Sincerely, (your signature).”

How To Split A Check At A Restaurant [The Awl]

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