The Bitcoin Lightning Network isn't as impractical as some make it out to be, but you need to understand how to use it properly.  You wouldn't open up a payment channel just for a small, one-time transaction - rather, the Lightning Network is best used for repeated micro-payments.  In some ways it's like a prepaid credit card in that sense.  The Lightning Network allows you to bypass the slower, more expensive on-chain bitcoin transactions, but just as you wouldn't get a prepaid credit card for a single purchase, you shouldn't open up a Lightning channel for a one-off payment.