It is the end of the meal.  You have had a great time eating with friends.  You are feeling kinda full but you are craving something sweet to finish things off and you really don’t want the evening to end.  Almost magically, the restaurant server appears with a dessert menu which features things like: “Chocolate Decadence” and “Warm Apple Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream”.  Do you succumb to your urges?  Odds are you do if someone else at the table orders something from the dessert menu first.  In fact, good restaurant servers will look for clues at the table of who is the most likely to order a dessert.  They will then ask that person first what they want to establish a pattern of ordering dessert.  Works every time.

Resist the temptation!  Usually all you need to satisfy that craving is simply a couple of bites of a group dessert.  Ordering a group dessert with a bunch of spoons is more fun and will help cut down on the sticker shock of the bill afterwards.