I Watched a Man Tip a Grocery Store Cashier, Should I Do it Too?

I never thought about tipping a grocery store cashier before. I saw someone do it recently and now I'm convinced we should.

Tipping is a strange concept. I don't disagree with tipping one bit but I do agree with part of Mr. Pink's rant from Reservoir Dogs about tipping. It's odd that we're trained to tip certain workers and others don't get tipped. I'm a radio host and no one tips me for playing a song they requested. Why not? I sure could use it.

Certain careers have been deemed tip worthy.

We tip wait staff, mail and package carriers, doormen, bartenders, drivers, pizza delivery drivers, and even your blackjack dealer.

You have probably never tipped someone who works at a grocery store before.

Why not?

At one of my recent trips to the grocery store, I saw this happen and I was stunned. As I was placing my items on the checkout counter I saw that the cashier was bagging the groceries of the man in front of me. That's not something that most cashiers do these days. I think that bit of helpfulness has slowed since the pandemic. The man was so pleased that he had help bagging his things that he tipped the kid $10.

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The young cashier turned it away several times but finally took it because the man was so insistent. This kid did bag my groceries as well but I wasn't able to leave a tip because I didn't have any cash on me. Should I have gotten cashback?

Are we supposed to tip in these situations?