[Zababa]

> As an aside, now that everybody is asking for 'tips' of some sort, it is getting quite difficult to figure out for whom these tips are essential (i.e. him) and for whom they are just gratuities. I wish I had a good answer for this.

That's a good point. On twitter, I see very often people asking for money for a surgery, an accident, or just in general. I feel like I see this way more often than before, but I don't have any hard data to back this up. Just like you, I don't have any good answer to that.

[AdamN]

Your online social milieu is likely getting poorer over time. In the olden days, online meeting grounds like Twitter were elite locations. Now they're commons. I notice this the most on Reddit where I'm sometimes reminded how many blue collar people there are (and also what a wide age range exists there).

[baxtr]

Yeah, that's a trend. I think it's also the main underlying reason why Google results are getting worse (worse for elites like us...).

[dfxm12]

I feel like I see this way more often than before, but I don't have any hard data to back this up. Just like you, I don't have any good answer to that.

Maybe your network is growing or, more realistically, the global pandemic we happen to be in is causing issues than normal. IMO, the answer to this would be voting for politicians who support a welfare system where an accident doesn't bankrupt you (regardless of things like employment status).