Facepalm

In California, restaurants were sneaking in 3% upcharges. They started out as "we're adding 3% to pay the state-mandated health care costs for our employees." It quickly progressed to "we're add 5% to your total bill because fuck you."

California recently mandated that practice illegal and requires all "extra fees" to be reflected in the prices instead.

Multiple restaurants stated (in public... recorded on TV, no less) that they "would lose business if they stopped this practice because then customers would know how much they're paying up front."

I was amazed at their candor. These "entrepreneurs" don't even know how to be embarrassed by their greed anymore.

That's a weird way to phrase it. Customers are always "subsidizing" businesses by paying for their goods/services. That's how businesses work, whether they're well run or not. What tips do is hide the cost of what you're buying. It was at least possible to calculate it yourself when everyone agreed on the standard 15% and only at places like dine-in restaurants. But that's no longer the case, so how much you're expected to pay is a mystery until you're handed the machine.

Wasn't there a comic going around about pro-laborer regulations throughout history, like, "giving them two days off each week will kill me," "taking child laborers out of the mines will kill me," "covering up all the giant exposed gears in the facility will kill me," and so on?