Pride and Pressure

I first noticed variations of the guilt-inducing question at the Costco and Whole Foods checkout counters:

"Would you like to donate a dollar to XYZ charity?" or
"Would you like to donate to XYZ instead of claiming a bag credit?"

Under the watchful gaze of the cashier and the people in line, I usually decline the invitations, but sometimes I succumb to social pressure and say yes.

(For the record--and realizing that this is defensiveness and pride talking--I have always itemized our deductions, thanks in part to charitable donations that are high for our income, at least that's what the IRS says. Furthermore, why must I give to Costco's XYZ when my donations to ABC also address the same need, for example, children's health?)

Now similar social pressures are being applied at takeout counters, where pay screens are becoming common. The pay screens come with tip suggestions.

Tapping "no tip" requires courage.

Consumers face that disconcerting ritual at bakeries, coffee shops, food trucks and other businesses that use tablet credit-card readers such as Square. The devices often ask customers to make tipping decisions on the fly—with the person who just served them looking on, along with everyone else waiting in line.

“It guilts you into it,” said Thom Kenney, a patron at Squeeze Juice Company in Boston on a recent morning. “It absolutely does, because they are standing there. You want to make them happy.”

Now that I see what the tech manipulators are doing--nudging me to doing their version of the right thing under social pressure--I will steadfastly decline to tip or donate at the pay screen, unless I've received table service. Yes, I will probably experience the disapproval of strangers whom I'll never see again. (Actually, I will try to avoid those establishments altogether.)

It's an ancient lesson, all but forgotten: one does not acquire virtue by trying to appear virtuous in front of others.

Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
-----Matthew 6:2-4