Yes, but you can't just ask someone "Do you make minimum wage? I need to know so I can decide how much to tip."

I don't know how much is normal to tip at some places. At restaurants, 20% is standard, ±5% depending on quality of service.

But at a coffee shop or a hairdresser or anywhere else like that, when the prompt for a tip comes up, I'd feel guilty to put anything lower than 20% because that's how I'm programmed to feel about tipping. It would feel rude to press "no tip" or just $1 or just 5%. But also, cognitively I know 20% is too much for those roles because they already make at least minimum wage. But asking "what's the normal amount to tip" seems rude too.

So I usually end up overtipping, even when it puts a strain on my finances. And that moves the overton window and begins to ingrain the obligation into cultural expectations. And that's precisely what the vendors want to happen. They want you to feel guilty so you tip too much, so that it becomes normal to tip too much and people have the option of "no tip" gradually taken away from them.

That's why in Europe when you use those american POS machines, the staff will click "no tip" for you before even handing you the machine. One, because they don't want to guilt you into tipping, and two because they don't want tipping culture to sneak into their societies. Because if it does, not only will it become a social obligation that no one wants, but it could also potentially give employers permission down the line to start paying less, the way they do in the US.

European wait staff like being payed a living wage without relying on tips. And you can feel the difference. They're not nearly as stressed out as servers in the US, and the interactions feel more genuine because they don't need to kowtow or be obsequious.