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.
I read this article too and I don’t see where npr is saying this is ok. They are giving these workers a platform to express their side of it but what the workers are really saying is that they are being exploited financially. This main guy being interviewed says he loves doing this but the laws are allowing the business to subsidise his wages based on customer kindness. That is clearly not ok, the tipped minimum wage is clearly not ok.
“If there is some means of tipping that’s available to you, that should signal to you that workers there aren’t being paid enough,” says Schenker.