What is this new thing about employees having to stand for long periods of time?

I first encountered this in the late 90’s, when I was 36 or so, at CellularOne where I worked. For a while we had a couch on the display floor where people could sit while others resolved their issues.
Then corporate came down from on high and said, “No chairs! We don’t want customers sitting! We want them up and walking around so they’ll buy more stuff!”
Even at the time I thought that has to border on illegal, especially for old people and those with medical issues.

Then I learned that the kids who work the drive through are no longer allowed to have stools to rest on. They have to be on their feet for hours at a time.

Two years ago I walked into a bank I’d never been to. It was the weirdest set up ever. There were 3 tall, round tables scattered throughout what would normally be the lobby. There were 3 tellers at each table, standing to do their computer transactions. No stools. Another thing I felt was so weird was the fact that the computer screens were available for anybody in the place to see.

I walked into Eccel last year, where I used to work. Gone were the desks. The teacher was at a tall table, and had to stand to do her computer work.

When I was a bank teller in the 90’s we had stools for when we weren’t interacting with customers. I notice those are gone.

Also, see my recent question in Social about my own personal recent experience with this.

What the hell is going on? Is it just me, or is this bullshit? Should we just exclude older people, overweight people, and those with some physical handicaps from work places where they could other wise competently do their job?