I’m American and had no idea just how severely tipping culture has permeated every single aspect of my life… until I left the US for the first time

I’m from the US and I just returned from a week in Vancouver, Canada. It was a really cool trip, and it made me realize just how deeply ingrained tipping culture is in America.<br><br>I grabbed lunch at a Panera bread and the kiosk had a tipping option before I even ordered. Then the screen said “thank you” after I selected no tip, but it sounded like it was in a slightly annoyed tone so I felt guilty and walked up to the cashier to ask her to either add a 20% tip or just give me cash back so I could give her a tip, and she said tipping wasn’t expected since I ordered from the kiosk.<br><br>Later I had dinner at a nice restaurant. The waiter was very nice and attentive, but I tipped him 25% because I just can’t help myself at this point. I feel guilty if I don’t tip everyone for everything. After dinner I got desert at a Cheesecake factory. I ordered to-go and the guy who handed me my order said “Thanks! Have a good night see you next time.” And I said you too, but then I felt bad that I didn’t tip him, so I asked him if he was the one who baked it or something, and he said no he was just the guy handing out the orders. So I asked the worker next to him if he receives tips, and she said only the ordering staff receives tips. <br><br>Every single day I felt bad for not leaving a tip for someone for some reason. It’s crazy how deeply ingrained this is in American culture. I never realized just how much of an issue tipping is in the US until now.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>Edit: I just looked and the minimum wage for a tip based job is only $2.13/hour. Yeah, that definitely needs to change.