I honestly feel like I’m living in a simulation right now. I walked into a cafe, ordered a coffee at the counter, paid, and waited. No table service. No server checking on me. Just me, standing there, waiting for them to call my name so I could grab my own cup.
I sat down for a minute to check my receipt and I froze. Scrawled across it in big letters was a note: “If you cannot afford to tip then do not eat out because servers need to pay rent.”
I thought I had someone else’s receipt at first. But nope. I ordered a single coffee. I didn’t “eat out.” Nobody brought me anything. I literally did the work of walking the coffee to the table myself. Yet somehow, I got a lecture on my finances and morals because I didn’t tip 20% for a hand-off.
When did buying a drink become a test you can fail? If we are expected to tip for 30 seconds of counter interaction, tipping culture has officially lost the plot.
