As I read it, it basically comes off as the author being grumpy that it’s harder to sponge off people who drink less, or slower.

I will do reciprocal drink buying, but hate formalising into “rounds”. My drinking rate can vary wildly. I don’t want to be forced to drink faster, to keep up with others.

Gen Z is the most financially squeezed age group in my memory. The fact they want to be more discerning in how much they drink and pay makes complete sense.

It’s also worth noting that contactless card machines also remove a major bottleneck in going to the bar.