So many baaaad ideas.

One of the most annoying requests in life, the one that fills me with fury and an immediate f.u. response is when any supplier, notably Comcast writes on the bill "Please put your account number on the check."What am I, their clerk?  While paying the bill that I think is far too costly anyway, why should I take the time to seek out and write down on the check their 15-digit account number? More and more businesses are depending on you to do part of their job, such as self check-out at CVS and Home Depot. No thanks.  I want someone to ring me up. Another major offender are restaurants and fast-food outlets that want you to bus the  table when you are done. This is a perfectly acceptable request when  the prices are so reasonable that one is glad to provide a helping hand to keep them low. (That, after all, was its original intent.) But it should not apply to such pricey establishments as Starbucks. But then we Americans are easily manipulated. Look how often we—including me—give tips to people who are standing behind a counter and not providing any extra service. Why do we feel we have to help prosperous business owners pay their help?