I sympathize with the barista here, but mindset that customers need to cover 10 to 20% of his income is symptom of decades of brainwashing of employees and customers alike. In this case NPR is part of this brainwashing. I will not tip someone for doing their job. I will only tip when I feel it is needed based on the service provided.
During the pandemic, my family just stopped eating out except for special events. A habit we have kept to consciously, even today. Between the severely degraded standards of service, extreme increase in prices, and the “tip everyone” mentality (atop of now a 20% tip is bare minimum now?) the only service I use on a regular basis is a haircut.
Since we’ve stopped eating out we have learned how to cook a lot of great food we never would have eaten or learned to cook, lost weight, become healthier in our food choices. It’s solved a lot of problems for us. Also, we are able to actually save a significant portion of our income now instead of blowing it at restaurants and coffee shops.
People don’t need to eat out, and the food service industry is seeing now that people are voting against current practices and prices with their wallets. People are reprioritizing what is important and what is not. Adapt or die out, it’s pretty simple.