When someone offers to buys you a drink and you accept, you are obliged to buy them one in return. By accepting the drink, you are entering into a contract which is as legally binding as a mortgage or marriage.

 

Everyone knows this. Or do they?

 

Twice in the past fortnight I have bought a drink for someone and they have not responded in kind. There were no unusual circumstances that may have upset the delicate web of trust a shout involves. They just went about their business, as if nothing had ever happened.

 

Both were at least 5 younger than I, and it got me wondering - is this a generational thing? Has the shout gone the way of VHS and Vanilla Ice? Who is to blame? Dance music? The internet? Should kids today be educated about the dynamics of the shout at school level?

 

I hope I am over reacting as the whole incident has left me quite shaken.

nope, just idiots/cheap asses

The culture of drinking must be different for every nation. I have never heard of such a thing.

The shout, if that's what it's being called, is practiced by my friends and I. Of course after a few we have to remind each other who is buying. Maybe thats the case.

 

Plus if it's a woman, said rules are broken.

Nope, to accept a drink without buying the next round is clearly in poor form.

 

However, they might have been poor and too embarrassed to admit it. They might not understand the rule. Next time, say something like, "Hey, I'll get this round if you get the next." Say it with a smile or even a grin. Try to let the youngsters know that buying a round of beer is an age old tradition. Finally, if they don't return the favor, just shrug, smile, and know that the Gods of Beer Consumption look down upon the bars of the earth and see everything. After all, you were a gentleman. For you, that is enough.

Interesting... Might want to remember that.

 

In my home culture, it's always one man pays all and let's drink till we are all under the table.

 

Oh yeah, now that I remembered, Chinese never split a tab either. They would argue and bicker for quite some time just so they could pay the bill themselves. Strange, huh?

Deadbeat. That's what they are.

 

Anyone who doesn't reciprocate are sponges.

I know Koreans and Chinese tend not to share the bill. Instead of buying rounds, we Koreans argue endlessly about who'll pay the bill(Most people fight about WANTING to pay the bill except for the few cheapasses.) and then someone buys the entire night, then someone else pays next time and so forth.

 

Since I've been in the U.S. I asked around as to bar/drinking etiquette before doing anything stupid and got the rules of buying rounds down. The rules tend to bend when there are women involved or among close friends.

 

Those peeps who walked off after getting a free drink seem to be in bad form though.

This habit is clearly a same-sex thing. With girls it's a bit more of a blur; if it's a friend it might be the general etiquette, but if it's someone you're interested in you don't expect her to buy the next round. In my case, however, there is usually an oral agreement in effect prior to buying each other rounds:

 

"I'm buying, do you want one too?"

 

"Sure, I'll take the next one"

I think the best way to look at it is as beer karma. After all, they are now in your debt. That has to count at some level.

 

It could also be an accident. These things do occasionally happen. I still owe a feller a pint from nine years ago. Can't find him.

Do you sleep with a gun under your pillow?

Do you sleep with a gun under your pillow?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's in my night table draw.

Beer! Buy me a keg and I may return the favor.