Free Dinner?

by Nicole Titterington (section 01, Spring 2011)

Have you ever been asked to dinner, and were told that the bill was on them? Everyone has probably experienced this at some point in their life. Personally I have been told this several times. “Hey do you want to go out to dinner tonight for your birthday it’s on me”. This is a quote that came out of my best friend’s mouth. Now at first you are probably thinking how can this be a bad thing, right? I mean I would get to go eat with my friend, and at the end of the meal I would sit back and watch her handle the bill. This seems easy as pie before you look at something called opportunity cost.

There are many different definitions for the term “opportunity cost”. Wikipedia states that opportunity cost is the cost related to the next best choice. Investopedia says that it is the cost of an alternative that must be forgone in order to pursue a certain action. In similar terms opportunity cost is the cost of what you are giving up. For example if your mom gives you a twenty dollar bill and you want to either buy a new shirt or get your nails done with it. You decide that you are going to buy the new shirt. The opportunity cost will be that you didn’t get your nails done.

Now that you have a feel for what opportunity cost is let’s get back to the “free” dinner with my friend. My birthday had just passed and my friend thought it would be a nice idea to take me out to dinner for my birthday. She first told me that I could pick anywhere that I wanted to go. She then proceeded to tell me that her car was being fixed and that I would unfortunately have to drive to dinner. She then proceeded to tell me that she was at work and it would be nice If I called and made a reservation so we wouldn’t have to wait once we got there because it was a Friday night.

It was Friday night and my boyfriend had asked me to hang out. I told him I was going to be busy because my friend was taking me out to dinner. So I had to think of where I wanted to go. I thought and thought and nothing was coming to me. I went online and googled places to eat around me. I thought it would be nice to go down to the waterfront and enjoy a nice night. I picked PF Changs and then I realized I needed to call. So I got up and got the phone and dialed the number to the restaurant. I made the reservation and went to start getting ready. I got ready and got into my car. It was then I realized I was on E. I drove to the gas station and put a twenty dollar bill into my gas tank. I then proceeded to drive to my friend’s house to pick her up. She got into my car and I started to drive the 35 minutes it takes me to get to the waterfront. We got there and enjoyed our meal, and she got out her wallet. She looked up and seemed quite embarrassed. She asked me if I had a five dollar bill on me because she didn’t have enough for a tip. I got out my wallet and handed her five ones. We got back in my car and I drove 35 minutes home.

This seems like it was a mediocre night, but if you analyze things a little more closely you understand everything I really gave up. First things first I gave up a night with my boyfriend, secondly I took about thirty minutes looking up food places online, and calling to make a reservation. I spent twenty dollars on gas and spent five dollars on a tip. I took 70 minutes of my time just driving to the restaurant, and the time it took to order, eat, and leave. This night was intended to cost nothing but really in the grand scheme of things costs a lot. I gave up lots of time and a fairly amount of money. In just one day there were so many things that were given up just to go to a “free” dinner.

Sources:
1. Investopedia.com
2. Wikipedia.com