Social Dilemma-Have You Ever Pretended It's Your Birthday At a Restaurant?

Today's social dilemma came from an email I received from Connie. I wanted to talk about it because I have a friend who does this all the time. Here's what Connie wrote: Hi Jaime, I love listening to your social dilemmas on the way to work and I have one for you. I have a wonderful group of friends. We get together once a month to go out to dinner and catch up. When we go out, we always say it's someone's birthday at the table, even if it's not. We just like the celebratory feel of having a birthday at a restaurant. The waitstaff will sing to one of us and usually, we'll get a free dessert out of the deal. However, I have one friend who hates this. Not because she doesn't like celebrating but because she feels like we're lying and stealing by getting the free dessert. I say it's no big deal and since we don't get together with each other on our actual birthdays this is a nice way to celebrate when we are together. But I'm curious to see what you and your listeners think. Is it okay to say it's your birthday even if it's not, or do you think we're doing something wrong. I know a lot of people who do it,so I think it's fine. Thank you so much Jaime. I'll be listening ~ Connie. Well, I have a friend who does this all the time too. Everytime a group of us are out to dinner, he'll say it's either his birthday or someone elses. I have to tell you, I'm not comfortable with it. I think its bad karma. He says the same thing Connie does which is since we are never together on our birthdays, this is just a way to celebrate it together, but it still feels wrong to me. What do you think? Let me know on the TRY Facebook page.