America needs to stop turning every purchase into an uncomfortable tip request

The article analyzes how tipping, once a reward for exceptional service, has become an uncomfortable financial expectation across various American transactions. It argues that businesses are utilizing digital payment screens as behavioral marketing tools to make it difficult for customers to opt out, thereby allowing them to pass higher labor costs onto consumers without transparently raising their prices. Tipping now permeates almost every corner of life, from coffee shops and bakeries to airport kiosks.