Young people seem so sensitive about everything, but now it’s my turn. I want to express my frustration over inflated tipping. I think there’s a disconnect between receiving money and earning money. Current tipping expectations are either the result of indulgent parenting or a lack of understanding of basic math.

No matter where you purchase something these days, you seem to be faced with the decision on how much to tip. Someone even told me a story about a vending machine offering the option to leave a tip! And it’s not just that you seem to be expected to tip everywhere, but the amount of tip expected has changed significantly.

It’s as if young people don’t understand how percentage works, so to match inflated prices, they’ve increased the percentage of the tip. I’ve been presented with default options of 20, 25, and 30 percent. Let me explain in case any young people are reading. If you got tipped 20% on a $25 meal a few years ago, your tip was $5. Today that meal might be $50, so your 20% tip is now $10. Percentages inherently account for inflation. You don’t need to increase the percentage as well!

What makes it worse is that so many young people don’t even want to interact, and that’s the basis behind tipping to begin with. Joan and I went to a coffee shop last year, and there was a sign on top of the register reminding us not to talk about anything but our order with the barista. At that point, isn’t the barista just the vending machine asking for a tip?

Another thing that gets under my skin is that whoever is programming these credit card machines is calculating the tip on the tax as well. Most of us who were born more than 20 years ago know that the tip is a percentage of the product or service you received. You do not tip on the government added taxes as well. These conniving or ignorant kids are collecting an even greater percentage than we intend.

I have eaten at a couple restaurants recently that have gotten away from tipping. One owner, who was at the register, told me that he pays the staff a reasonable wage so that they don’t have to rely on tipping. He said it has reduced a lot of conflict with the staff and made it less uncomfortable for his customers. I think that is a good solution, because like many others, I have suffered tip fatigue.

A friend of mine gave me a piece of advice that I’ve put into practice over the past year. He said, “If I am standing up when I place my order, I don’t leave a tip.” It takes a couple extra seconds to navigate through the computer screen, but I am happy to find the no tip option when I have received no service. And not once has anyone said anything.

Another option I stumbled upon accidentally is to confuse them with cash. In addition to forcing them to deal with the struggle of having to do math to make change, you rob them of the opportunity to say, “it’s going to ask you a couple questions”. If you’re so confident that you should be tipped for selling me a candy bar, then maybe you need the confidence to ask me the question yourself.