Tipping Fatigue Is A Thing

Rarely am I watching TV, see a news report, and immediately come out of my chair and scream, "YES!"  It happened yesterday morning.  My morning ritual goes something like this:  make a cup of coffee, sit down to begin blogging/preparing for the radio show, cut on the "Today Show" to get caught up on what's happened in the world while I slept.  I was just about to turn away to ESPN when this report came on that brought my latest pet peeve to the forefront.

Look, I have ZERO problem tipping.  I was a waiter once, I get it.  As such, I'm a generous tipper.  That being said, I tip for service that goes above and beyond your basic job description.  For example, every Tuesday, Debbie and I have soup and salad at a particular franchise.  We order and pay by kiosk.  We are notified by text when our food is ready, and we have to go retrieve it.  No one EVER comes to check on us, refill our drinks, etc. at any time while we're eating.  THEN, we have to bus our own table when we're finished.  Back to the kiosk.  The last screen prompts tipping the staff with a minimum of 20%.  HUH?!  For what?  The way I look at it, I've done all the "service" work.  Shoot, you should be tipping me with a minimum 20% discount!  The pandemic's over.  We're in an endemic ("live with it") stage.  No one is going through any more of a health threat than I.  No one's packaging or delivering my food here.  So quit trying to guilt me into tipping.  And I'm not just picking on this one particular food franchise.  These kiosks are everywhere and "guilt tipping" prompts are a constant.  It's making me nuts.  Apparently, I'm not alone here.  You?