There may not be anywhere in the world that the well-travelled Brit feels more like an innocent abroad than in a coffee shop on Sunset Boulevard in LA. It wasn’t the dizzying choice between a lavender breeze latte and a Tahitian vanilla latte, or the option of a 20-hour cold brew coffee. All I wanted, in fact, was a muffin.

The sales assistant put the muffin in a bag, handed it over with practised indifference, and then turned round the digital payment screen to face me. I was presented with three options. I could leave a tip of 18 per cent, 25 per cent or 30 per cent. What? Is this a joke? You want me to leave a gratuity for your outstanding service in putting a muffin in a paper bag? I haven’t even eaten it yet. This was the moment I realised that tipping culture in the US had, to borrow a famous Hollywood term, truly jumped the shark.

Yes, there is also a (much smaller) box which indicates “No Tip”, but who’s going to turn their penny-pinching nature into a public event? Such is the tyranny........

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