About the tip jar though, I swear some people give you a funny look if you don’t give them the 54 cents of change…

Although most people come in, get a few things and zoom out, some people get more face-time with the barista. Sometimes it’s because they have really huge drink orders (which is hard, because then all the quick orders have to wait) or they want something super-picky and uncommon , or they don’t know what they want and the barista has to pick them out something. Those kind of orders require the person to do a lot more work than otherwise, so a little tip is a nice way of saying thanks for putting in the extra effort.
An automatic drip coffee, regular black is a no-brainer, but the customer who asked for 6 olive-flavored half-caff mocha-choka-latte-yayas at precisely 178.9 degrees with whip in the shape of the Eiffel Tower and then proceeds to tell me about her bunions as I’m trying to froth the yeti-milk she insists upon will turn my frown upside down if she scoots some change my way, y’know?