Friend takes birthday girl out for dinner, she invites 5 of her family members unannounced and expects her to foot he $172 bill: 'It was so awkward'

Should you be expected to pay for someone else's family dinner? 

Birthday dinners are tricky money-wise, because you want to make sure the person whose birthday it is has a good time and doesn't feel obligated, but you also can't be expected to cover the whole she-bang when you were just an invited guest. I feel that the general rule should be that whoever's idea it was to have the dinner should be the one to pay for it. But there should be clear guidelines in that case (aka no uninvited guests). Whoever's buying it should have an idea of how much it's going to cost and be comfortable with that number. You would hate to put someone in an awkward situation just because it was their birthday and they didn't communicate properly. That's exactly what happened here, where someone wanted to take advantage of someone's generosity. 

It's never a good idea to expect someone else to pay for you unless they have directly expressed that they were, and what. That kind of arrogance will never be rewarded. If you're sticking someone with the bill, they should at least know it's coming. Dining out can be massively expensive these days, and it can be a pretty big financial burden if you don't know what you're getting into. It can make a pretty big dent in your budget if you're not careful. That's what happened here, when one friend did not realize the extent of the damage they were doing. 

When it's your birthday, it's your day. It's your chance to ask for what you want and get it. But that doesn't mean you get to be a tyrant. You still have to make sure everyone in your life is comfortable with what's going on, and that nothing gets out of control. You should never assume that someone else is comfortable paying for you. Keep reading to see what happened here and decide what you think about it.