It’s early morning, and you just placed a coffee order at your local coffee shop. Maybe the barista asked about your weekend or wished you a good day. It’s a friendly interaction. You go to pay, and the inevitable happens — the barista whooshes the screen in your face, and you’re prompted to tip or not. Suddenly, the experience turns transactional and forced. Do you leave a tip? If so, how much? Will the barista judge you? Or do you just throw a buck in the tip jar if one exists? You ponder that it’s too early to have to answer these questions.
“I think it’s a conversation that people should talk about,” said Catalina, a barista at a specialty coffee shop in the