tipping is out of control

i'm in full-on "americans are whack jobs" mode, so you've been warned.

so i was at the grocery store today while i was checking out i noticed that the guy helping me bag my groceries was placing them in a cart that i can only assume exists solely for nice guys to carry bags out for little old ladies. i am clearly not a little old lady so i began placing the bags i assembled myself into the basket i pushed around the store. i was trying to bag quickly so i would have more in my cart than he would in his and maybe this nice man would get the hint that i didn't need help out to my car. i finally had to say "i'm fine. i don't need help out." in the nicest possible way, but he insisted on following me out to my car.

now, i'm sure this man was looking for me to throw him a couple of bucks for the help out to my car, but i didn't give him a dime. call me what you will, but it was pretty clear that i didn't need or want help. am i obligated to tip someone that helps me against my wishes? i think not.

which brings me to another point. this country is nuts for millions of reasons, but one of those is the whole tipping culture. i know it's customary to tip waiters, bellboys, skycaps, hotel maids (i just learned about this one not that long ago), but why? when i lived in australia, you only tipped waiters and none of the other three listed above. and there was none of this 15% rule stuff. if the waiter did a good job, you threw him 10% at the most. if the service was bad, you maybe left a buck or two. waiters in australia make a lot more money in base salary than they do in the states, but still. i hate tipping. it makes me feel awful. it makes me feel like i am saying that person is only worth the $2 i just handed them. why can't we pay people a fair wage and not perpetuate this whole awkward tipping custom?

on a side note: i don't know if this is a southern thing, a ukrop's thing (yes, that is the name of a grocery store in this burg) or just me being uber-perceptive, but there were no corrals for empty grocery carts in the parking lot of the store. oh, ukrop's. so sly. nice men have to follow customers out to their cars 'cause otherwise the empty baskets would sit in the middle of the parking lot. i wonder how much they make in tips every day...