Leaving a tip in a restaurant is a part of life in many countries. We tip a waiter or someone in a hotel. We might put a tip in a jar next to a cash register. There is now a new way to tip – self checkout machines. People are not happy about them. Some of these machines are asking for a 20 per cent tip. They are in airports, cafes, bookstores and clothes shops in the USA. There is no face-to-face contact between people. Many customers in stores say they are not happy about leaving a tip and giving extra money to a machine.

The Wall Street Journal said people in the USA are becoming tired of tipping the self-checkout machines. Many people are experiencing "tipping fatigue". Nearly 20 per cent of people are now leaving tips for things they never used to leave tips for, like bottles of water. A customer at an airport store said self-checkout machines asking for a tip was like "emotional blackmail". A digital payments company said the machines are increasing the number of tips. It said Americans are leaving 15 per cent more tips than before.