Restaurants really are a mixed bag, aren't they? On the one hand, I think they're one of the greatest inventions of modern society. It's such an incredible human achievement that we can have food made for us whenever we like, isn't it?
But sadly, on the other hand, restaurants always ask us to pay for that food. But one man on the run in the United Kingdom is sidestepping that minor inconvenience in a really big way, racking up quite the unpaid bill in the process.
For more, let's head to North Yorkshire, where the staff members at an establishment called the Wyvill Arms were left scratching their heads over a massive bill that will simply have to be written off. Described by a man in his late 20s to early 30s with strawberry blond hair and tall and "of large build", he's made off with a meal and a night's rest without paying so much as a service tip.
During his stay at the Wyvill Arms, this fearless dine-and-dasher managed to rack up a bill of £195 (around $250 USD), consuming a steak pie, a "pricey fillet steak", four bottles of beer, four "large white wines", 14 vodka-Cokes, two gins, and two pints of lager.
In one night. How is this guy still alive?
What's more, the man in question then ordered a £23 bottle of Prosecco for the night, saying he was feeling "tired and emotional" (read: drunk) over his wife reportedly not showing up. Then, in the morning, he skipped without paying for anything he'd ordered.
But this is where the story gets weirder: apparently, this isn't the first time this dine-dasher has been spotted in the region of Yorkshire. A man matching that exact description was also spotted back in mid-November, and wouldn't you know it: he was also accused of dining and dashing.
This time, Dave Bate says that his pub the White Horse in the Yorkshire Dales put up the suspect for a period of five days, vanishing having racked up a £500 ($634) bill for his stay. That included around £100 ($126) on just lager alone: the man apparently managed to drink 25 pints of the stuff in that period.
North Yorkshire Police have confirmed they're looking into both incidents to see if they were indeed connected, and if they are, let's hope our dash diner doesn't get caught. He could face as serious a punishment as a dine-and-dasher out in LA: Paul Gonzales was sentenced to 120 days in jail.
The 45-year-old was also banned from using dating apps, after he allegedly went on a date with around a dozen different women on expensive dinner dates, before leaving without paying for a single one.
It just goes to show, folks: there's no such thing as a free meal, and there's arguably no place that applies more than restaurants. Please, wherever you are in the world, remember to pay for the delicious food and drink you get to enjoy.
