Q. I’m a single bloke now and for various reasons don’t foresee any change to that status. I have moved to Australia and found several convivial people of similar backgrounds who are couples. From time to time we meet up in restaurants but I find there is an expectation that the bill be settled either by dividing it in two or that I should pay in full every other meal. No one ever suggests splitting it three ways.
These are people with means. I dislike broaching the subject of money so the consequence is that I meet up with these friends less often than I would like to.
—Name withheld
A. Bear in mind that an astonishing number of people are hopeless at maths and it could genuinely be that these couples have just not grasped the inequity of such divisions.
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