"splitting the check" news and stories

The day after Valentine's Day is a bit of a relief. No longer must people wait in anticipation to find out what their Valentine has in store for them or whether they forgot about the holiday completely. There is only one area that will still be feeling the strain of the occasion other than the strain of a waistband after indulging in too much chocolate: your wallet. Or perhaps the wallet of your significant other. According to a study done by Discover Card, men spent an average of $128 on Valentine's Day, while women only spent around $74.

Perhaps it's a cultural expectation that women are to be the primary recipients of Valentine's Day gifts. Does this extend to even the women who ordinarily support "going dutch", or trying to split things as evenly as possible? Informal straw polling prior to Valentine's Day showed that many women do expect to be taken out and not have to share in the cost of the evening, at least this once. So, who paid for your dinner last night?