Tipping Has Come for Self-Serve Checkout – WSJ

Zero interaction with employees during a transaction no longer guarantees freedom from the moral quandary of how much to tip.

Prompts to leave 20% at self-checkout machines at airports, stadiums, cookie shops and cafes across the country are rankling consumers already inundated by the proliferation of tip screens. Business owners say the automated cues can significantly increase gratuities and boost staff pay. But the unmanned prompts are leading more customers to question what, exactly, the tips are for

via www.wsj.com

These tip screens are hella annoying, as the young persons say. Or used to. Yeah, I usually leave the minimum tip on the screen if I’m being “helped” at a counter, or $1 at Starbucks, but I am *not* going to tip at a completely self-help counter. I mean, come on, man! I recently was dunned for a tip at an *on line* vendor! What is that? Granted, it was a PRC outlet, but even so. What’s the point of buying online if you have to tip? There a Mexican restaurant my son Mark and I like to go to. The other night we had dinner there. The bill? Forty-nine bucks, with the 18 percent tip. This was just for two simple dinners, one beer and one root beer, and the tip. Still, their Chile Verde was yummy.