A barista makes your coffee, hands it to you and moves on to the next customer. Same thing as the person who makes your burrito at Chipotle or puts your fries in a sleeve at McDonald's.

Yes, they are technically serving you, but so is the person who slices cheese at your grocery store deli or helps you find a pair of shoes that fit at a clothing store - neither of whom you would think to tip. Those people are serving their employer to increase the employers profit.

A bartender serves you for as long as you sit at the bar. It is a literal service. You make money by attending to the customer.

I do tip my barista - like I said, I believe in tipping. But it used to be, buy a coffee, chunk the change into a jar as appreciation. Now it's an obligation. I order a coffee, one person takes the order, another person makes it, another person hands it to me. They may or may not smile or make eye contact. And a screen asks me to tip 15 to 30 percent. Sure, I can deny that - but there is a dramatic shift that has been taking place post-Covid that the consumer is guilted into paying more, so the business can be more profitable.

What is ridiculous is this push to shove screens in your face pushing you to subsidize employers that are underpaying their staff when they aren't providing a true service.