I still don't think tipping is appropriate, or even necessary, in that context.

When I was a teen, working at a local grocery store, I would do my best to go above and beyond for customers.

If I was on cash, I would pack their groceries. If a customer needed help bringing their groceries outside, or to help load it into their car, I'd gladly do that. I wasn't being paid extra for any of that, but I considered it my job to provide high-quality service, even at a grocery store.

We didn't accept tips back then, so this wasn't fake customer service.

Tipping these days has gone beyond just habit. We get asked to tip for quite literally a single movement, or a 10-second task. It's beyond the point of absurdity.

Nowadays, grocery stores do not provide the services that I took pride in providing decades ago. They expect you to be the cashier and bag packer now. Funny enough, they don't ask for tips when you work for free, they ask for donations, instead!

Tipping is the enshittification of the customer service industry. And as a consumer, it gives me one more reason not to spend my money at those places.