Most people seem not to tip baristas at all. I make my own coffee 99% of the time, so on the few days per year when I buy it, I tip around 20% because it's a luxury, and if everyone who could easily afford the extra few dollars did so, baristas might actually have fair income. Same for eating at restaurants, etc.

I acknowledge that it's a workaround for a larger problem, but I have low confidence that the US will actually address that problem within my lifetime.

If their employer raised their rates 10% they could increase the wages of all low wage front line employees by 1/3. Instead in general we see prices going up in some cases several times actual inflation and wages that at best track it.

The nice things about tips is that it adds voluntary price discrimination. If you want to pay more you can. A raised price on the other hand raises a price floor which may disuade customers who are more cost sensitive.

The reality seems to be that if you tip below the expected amount, you'll be treated poorly, judged, or berated for doing so.

What's more, from the discussions I've read, the expected amount has increased vastly over the last decade.

It’s interesting because the origin of tipping in the US came about during the post civil war period, when black people needed jobs but nobody wanted to pay them because you know they had been doing it for free just a short while ago. The expectation was that the guest would pay them, not the employer. I guess we still have that mindset.

If they're not earning a fair income, then their wage/salary should be increased. It's ridiculous to make their pay vary from day to day depending on how guilty their customers feel.

As much as I like the advent of things like square and toast to provide convenient checkout, they've added a lot of tipping in places where it wasn't as common. There are all sorts of things I buy now where I get that little electronic checkout screen and options for 18/20/22/25% tipping. When before there *may* have been a tip jar. If that.

I make a point to find the no tip option. It's there but usually buried under a sub-menu on a different page.

I'm sorry, but the US tipping culture as a whole is nuts.

(I'm Russian who lurks in the English-speaking segment of the internet way too much)

Czechs think so, too. Rounding up to the closest convenient monetary value is fine (like 50 CZK from 47), but the US rules could as well be from another planet.

Everybody I know who visited the US was bewildered.

Well, you forget that in the US an item with prize 47 actually costs 52 because tax is also not included.

Some people in Russia insist on tipping. They usually do it by leaving a 50 or 100-ruble note in the bill folder thing even if they paid by card. There's never any provision to tip with card in one go like in the US, it's always an extra, strictly optional step.

Some places where you pay at the counter would have a tip jar, or even a small electronic device you tap your card on to tip a fixed amount. These are ignored by most people.

Some of us are starting to wake up and open our eyes though.

I've personally stopped tipping in most places I go to. I might leave 10% at a high-end restaurant with really good service, but in general I leave a very minimal tip at sit-down restaurants, and pretty much never leave any tip for any sort of takeout/counter service.

I know the wait staff see that and think I'm an asshole, and I don't care. I'm fine with being an asshole to avoid getting fleeced, and I've not yet had any issues with service, even on return visits.

I think we all agree that tipping sucks, but it’s the world we live in (in the US at least). Wantonly refusing to tip waitstaff just means you’re Mr. Pink,[1] and I don’t think anyone wants to be Mr. Pink.

[1]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4sTSIYzDIk

He's the only one that lived at the end of the movie if I recall correctly, so everyone would want to be mr Pink?

His rant also convinced other people on that table because there was no flaw in his reasoning.

Where I live, waitstaff are paid the same minimum wage as every other worker, there's no tipped vs non-tipped dichotomy here. The way I see it, if all you did as waitstaff for me, was bring me glass of water, take my order using your tablet where you just tapped a few buttons, and then finally brought out the plate of food...I don't see how that deserves much consideration.

Sure, if I go to a nice restaurant, and the waiter chats me up, figures out what I like, suggests some dishes, does some non-standard stuff to make my experience at the restaurant memorable -- I will tip that. But if all you're doing as a waiter in my locale is tapping a few buttons on your POS handheld and then later bringing over a couple of plates, I don't see that as being worth much of a tip.

Why can’t this person spend their money how they want?

A general rule is to tip at least a dollar a drink, whether it's beer or beans

That's a rule made up by the servers. Busy bar servers will ignore you, but you'll get your coffee no matter what made up rule you don't follow.

The weirdest part of this for me (not American) is that my local daily coffee shop throws in free items for me - sometimes comps the coffee or gives banana bread or something to reward a frequent customer. The idea that a frequent customer feels like they need to tip extra as the OP says blows my mind.

Free comps are psychology (more likely classical conditioning). It is the same psychological quirk which makes gambling so appealing. When training dogs, treats work far better when you randomly “jackpot” the reward. The lizard brain is willing to grind out the low paying rewards longer in hopes of the next high paying reward.

Sure, my point is it's the OPPOSITE of feeling like I should tip/tip extra as a regular as OP said. My overall costs are lower as a regular which makes sense.

Well yeah, but I think point being made here is it is shop that feels rewarding customer and not the customer that is socially forced to reward server at coffee shop counter every single time.