But yes, the craziness is coming here too. I have not seen it myself, but my friend complained about grocery store self-checkout asking for tip. Touchscreen order terminals in fast food takeout places also ask for tip, of course.
I could see more of a case for tipping at non-self-checkout. At least there, the employee is doing the work. But even there, why has it changed? What's different from what they were doing 10 years ago?
I could also see tipping checkout people during Covid (though I didn't think of it at the time). They were putting their health, and maybe their lives, on the line so that I could continue to eat. That was way above and beyond the job they thought they were signing up for. Tipping then would have been a kind of hazard pay.