Over at Unherd, Poppy Sowerby defends American excess:

If all the intrepid fans making their way to the home of the brave have to cling on to is some garbled conception approaching “scarcity chic”, then we are in a sorry state indeed. My social-media feeds are plagued by videos in which wide-eyed Italians hold oversized drinks and exclaim, verbatim: “I ask medium size! Che medium! Madonna! My entire family can drink from here for one month!” seemingly ventriloquizing Fawlty Towers’s Manuel. But Americans experience this excess not as decadence but hospitality. Free refills, ultra-attentive waiting staff (motivated by tipping culture) and the normalization of “to-go” boxes are little civic sacraments. They may seem disturbing to those of us used to being ignored by the often poisonous service workers of Western Europe, but after a little time living here I began to accept the kindness of staff without suspicion.

Indeed. Americans may have terrible hourly wages for food-service work. But our culture emphasizes hospitality. And that friendliness and the willingness to use soda or breadsticks as a loss leader in service to a higher profit experience are a Yankee glory to be reveled in.