Like I don't know, maybe there's some kind of cycle with food and water or something?
For a very long time, tipping was a pretty simple exchange. If someone personally gives you great service, you tip. Simple. Waiters, bellhops, etc.
Then suddenly, in the 2010s, a bunch of tech bros came along and decided to put tipping screens EVERYWHERE. Getting takeout? Tip. Buying tickets? Tip. Interacting with a damn screen to order your food, not talking to anyone at all? Tip.
What is the end result here? Essentially, now regular consumers are helping subsidize the lives of people whose employers now don't have to pay them as much in real terms. The new "no tax on tips" merely enshrines this - it's now the standard social contract that businesses basically don't have to even try to pay a living wage and the burden is now on YOU, the customer, to help these people live their lives.
It's pure greed, and I hate it. And the fact that we just... let ourselves slip into this position with zero resistance, it doesn't really strike me as a great sign for the future. Consumers just sat back and let a bunch of tech bros fundamentally change the social contract between businesses, hourly employees, and consumers. What's next? I've been reading about "surveillance pricing" at grocery stores and I'd guess this is the next major way in which we all let ourselves get fucked.