To me, it’s respectful to offer the intended recipients of your gift the choice to accept or not rather than forcing something on them they didn’t consent to.
So is it disrespectful to want to gift someone a meal? I don’t understand why it has to be so black and white.
Also the consent thing really sounds weird. Do you honestly go around making value judgements about when people did or did not seek your consent to this level of granularity? Why?
Again I think if the first place you go to when offered a free, meaningful and well intended gift is consent, you internally have an issue that you need to handle.
The good thing about consent in this case is they can just "return" the gift by paying you their portion of the bill, and if they don't consent isn't really violated. You went from owing the restaurant to owing them.
But why take the joys of life and make them difficult? Let your friend enjoy himself by being generous.
While this behavior is joyous and enjoyablefor you, not everyone may share your point of view. Some find joy in paying their own way. Let others choose for themselves instead of deciding for them.
Paying a bill isn't forcing anything on anyone. It literally doesn't involve them, it's between the payer (the gift giver) and the payee (the restaurant).
Also the consent thing really sounds weird. Do you honestly go around making value judgements about when people did or did not seek your consent to this level of granularity? Why?
Again I think if the first place you go to when offered a free, meaningful and well intended gift is consent, you internally have an issue that you need to handle.