It is my treat, buddy!

"HEY, SHOOT me a meal! It's your turn this time!" When translated to English, the Korean phrase "Bab-sswah!" becomes weirder, leaving no correct meaning. First introduced on a famous TV sitcom six or seven years ago, this phrase has been representing the culture of young people both on and off the campus. As the world gets more various, more chances are available for us to treat someone whatever the reason is. So The Yonsei Annals wanted to look more into treating meals with 100 randomly selected Yonseians.
Let's start with the first question. When asked Do you treat someone often?, 41.9% of respondents picked "yes" while all the other 58.1% answered "no."Well, let's say the former percentage shows those who are willing to pay for someone else's meal just to stay on good terms with people. Then does the latter represent the number of stingy Yonseians or what?
Then where would many of those people choose to go when treating someone? 39.8% of them said they usually go to some cheap restaurants outside the school. Yeah, maybe that is why there are many part-time jobs available for giving out all kinds of restaurant coupons! While most of all the others said they prefer going to student union (22.6%) or some other places to eat on campus (19.4%), there was this one person who USUALLY goes to expensive, luxurious restaurants. Oh, that person must be the one that comes to school in a big black car drivenby a chauffer every morning!

▲ What kind of people do you hate most to treat?

The person who doesn't give any treats in return. 43%
The person who only chooses expensive restaurants. 8.6%
The one that ask for more and more with no limit. 1.1%

Okay, then, let's say you are to treat others. For what reason would you be willing to pay? To this question, 29.0% of respondents answered that they mostly give a treat when they have already been treated by someone in the past. Yep, isn't that what we all call humanity? The other 19.4% said they feel like treating their friends when they have just been paid usually from a part-time job whereas only 8.6% would pay when they have made a new girl/boy friend. Different from what I had expected, making a girl/boy friend turned out not to be a big issue. Perhaps that is because it breaks others' hearts? One conspicuous fact about the answers to this question was that more than 15.0% said they would give a treat just for fun. Wait, you spend money for fun? Then how about giving me a treat someday?
But everything has its exceptions. Even though you are in charge of treating someone, there is still the kind of a person that you would never want to go out with. So we inquired What kind of people do you hate most to pay for? 43.0% of them picked "the person who doesn't give any treats in return." Well, watch out people! Those of you who forget everything after being treated will have to take good care of yourself not to get completely bald! The next most picked answer was "the person who does everything to get a treat." So far, I have thought this kind of person would only exist on TV shows. What on earth would the lives of people around them be like? There were also some students who got so mad at this kind of a person that they even wrote a small note at the edge of the question; "never, ever get along with those people!"

▲ What would you do if you are out of money when you have finished eating?

Tell the other person the whole truth and go on Dutch-pay. 40.9%
Run to ATM in the excuse of going to the restroom. 17.2%
Faint suddenly. 1.1%


Now, imagine you have come to a restaurant to keep your promise of treating. At the end of the happy meal, you take out your wallet to check if there is enough money. Uh oh! But you find a little bit less money than you thought you had. No card, no on-the-cuff available right now. What would you do? In this embarrassing situation, 40.9% of respondents said they would tell the other person the whole truth and go Dutch. Oh, by the way, I remember when a sunbae ended up going Dutch with me last time in a similar situation. How are you,sunbae? Is everything okay? There were also two quite noticeable people who chose "I will faint suddenly or do labor in place of money."  Sometimes, the best way could be just an inch ahead of you!
One of the most exciting things of being a freshman last semester to me was not paying any of my own meals and asking sunbaes to go out to eat. It is kind of a romanticism of freshmen! Then How much would sunbaes have had to spend most every March and April so far? The Annals asked sophomores, juniors and seniors the amount of money they had spent most for treating to freshmen. 47.3% of students said they had to spend more than 50,000 in those two months just for the freshmen. But what amazed me more was that about two-thirds of those people had an experience of spending more than 100,000! Wow, as a freshman, I feel somewhat sorry and thankful to the sunbaes. So, are you a sunbae with a few or more freshmen waiting for your treat? Then just run! Run! Run! Or you will get caught by them!
Now, to the freshmen, we asked how much they had saved on their food expenses at most in the beginning of the very first semester at Yonsei Univ. this year. 40.9% said they had saved more than ₩30,000 but less than ₩50,000. As I had expected that freshmen would have saved more than the acquired result, I interviewed a freshman who answered as the above. Jeong Bo-ra (Fresh., Area of Technology) remarked, "I think the number of freshmen who want to be treated by sunbaes is far more than that of the sunbaes who give a treat This naturally makes each sunbae spend more than each one of freshman save on their food expenses."

▲ How much money did you spend for treating freshmen from March to April?

30.1% ₩100,000~  
17.2% ₩50,000~₩100,000
 10.8% ₩10,000~₩30,000


Okay, along with the money, we asked Yonseians their own way of getting a treat from someone. Well, I think this is the part where we get to know the characteristics of Yonseians. 25.8% of respondents selected, "I will insist strongly with analytic and accurate thinking." It looks a little bit strange to me though. Just look at ourselves. We go crazily irrational when it comes to eating. But why not so here? The next most widely chosen example was "become a cute little baby just for one moment to get a treat (22.6%)." But remember one thing! When blunt people try to act like a baby, things will go backward, consequently getting nothing.
For the last part, let's take a look at the result of the question what do you ordinarily do to avoid treating? 47.3% of respondents said they would just smile and never take any action when asked to treat somebody. These people seem to be well-aware of one good truth? You never spit on a smiling face! There were also four people who said that they would be cut off from every network among people. But these people are still okay. At least, they don't get angry when asked to treat, do they? One person said he/she becomes enraged when the other person gives any signs to give a treat. But Imagine how awkward the conversation is. "Hey, how about treating some meal?"  "Don't even think about it!" Wouldn't it be too harsh for the other person?

▲ What is your own way of getting a treat from someone?

25.8% Insist strongly with analytic and accurate thinking.
22.6% Act like a cute little baby
 5.4% Ask for a treat day and night


In spite of all of the analysis above, treating others is already an important part of our lives. No matter how hard we try to avoid giving a treat, it is certain that we communicate through this culture, which plays a good role in getting to know more about each other by talking and laughing together at the same table. However, one thing we all should keep in mind is that we should not go beyond the limit. When this culture becomes another pressure to you, this pressure will bring another pressure, resulting in cultural abuses. So as an actual practice of this article, how about treating within limits for your buddy today?

저작권자 © The Yonsei Annals 무단전재 및 재배포 금지