Be honest with me: does the bay leaf even do anything?

I've been putting these things in soups my whole life and I could not begin to tell you what 'bay leaf' tastes like. I'm tired and I want answers.

So far I've learned that a bay leaf is a dried aromatic you add to certain foods in order to have long online arguments

Ten years of thwacking internet beehives and this is the thread where I'll get ratioed

Deep vein of spice snobbery I'm discovering among certain followers is turning me into a bay leaf truther. I'm sure a hair plucked fresh from the wild Moroccan thistle badger's asshole imparts an unforgettable flavor to soups and stews, but real American spices can handle storage

Business idea: reusable rubber bay leaf, too big to accidentally swallow. Maybe you could keep it on a chain attached to the cookpot, for easy removal. Similar in spirit to the Lucky Iron Fish https://luckyironfish.com/