>>720,721
I've always been amused and slightly annoyed at the ubiquity of the 'cup of coffee' analogy. I don't drink coffee either, and even if I did I wouldn't spend $3 on it every day, I would make it myself.

You see "buy me a coffee" buttons all over the place, like https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ or https://ko-fi.com/ which claims: "The 'coffee' metaphor is a more human way to receive support." But why?

In real life, when a friend does you a favor, it's taboo to compensate them with money. People say, "don't worry about paying me back, just buy me a drink sometime." The problem seems to be that as soon as money changes hands, it complicates your relationship by mixing the worlds of friendship and business.

This is fine for small favors, but western society takes the concept that cash is crass to the point of absurdity. Friends refuse cash compensation even for huge favors that cost them money. People give each other gift cards, even though cash is so much more practical. At weddings, cash gifts are frowned upon, whereas in Asian countries they are expected to help pay for the expensive ceremony, which is much more practical. It's considered rude to even talk about money, even though doing so could actually be quite beneficial.

It's especially absurd to carry over this concept that cash is crass when begging strangers for money on the internet. "Buy me a coffee", "buy me a beer"...no matter how you phrase it, you're fundamentally still just begging for money. It just strikes me as a sad attempt to pretend that you're everybody's friend.

It must work though, because everybody's doing it.