Coin Metrics says the transaction fee stands at $7.67 which is astronomical. ETH is a bit lower at $1.39 but that is still far far higher than most payment instruments.
I'm not sure where you are getting those figures from, Coin Metrics shows fees under $1 for both for me [0]. The two sites I've used in the past that have been pretty accurate show ~$0.10 for both [1] [2].
I don't use BTC much these days, but if you're paying $1.39 for an ETH transaction you're most certainly paying too much.
The StdCost right now is a dime. You can get away with less if you're willing to wait for confirmation (which is possible if you're transacting locally with neighbors).
Maybe you could trust the person asking for crypto instead of showing an anti-crypto bias?