Until compensation in the food service industry is fundamentally reworked, always tip well.
Unfortunately I think the reality is that as long as people are tipping well, there is little motivation on any party (except the customer) to rework compensation in the food service industry.
As a customer, I hate the situation. The explosion in tipping (both expected amount and breadth of jobs relying on tips) I’ve seen in my couple decades as an adult is staggering. But I still want my server to be paid decently, and therefore I tip decently. But it leaves a bad taste in my mouth every time, knowing that the establishment is relying on my guilt to pick up the slack in their compensation.
You touched on something that makes sense, but for me personally it takes more than just having different public vs private personas for a person to seem fake.
Many people naturally have a different demeanor or way of interacting in public than private, which doesn’t necessarily make them seem fake. What feels fake is when you can pick up on a deliberate or curated public persona, especially if it’s being done deceptively or for some material gain.
The theory I’ve heard is that people on reality TV shows would do this so the mics could pick up their conversations better. So naturally, brainless idiots without an original thought in their dense godforsaken skulls people who watch those shows started doing it in real life too because they saw popular people doing it on TV.
It’s just a theory, but it seems plausible because it’s clearly not how phones were designed to function on speakerphone or otherwise.
I did this to someone once because the signage didn’t quite match the locking mechanism, and it was not a secure lock… like at all. If it makes you feel any better, the shame was horrific and immediate, and I still feel the aftershocks today, so that lady probably does too.
This is really the only answer. If you think being able to put your your desktop in your pocket and use it anywhere would be useful, then you’d probably find a smartphone useful.