US tipping culture is just awful. For anyone that comes with „yeah but you can show appreciation towards the servers“. When was the last time you tipped your plumber, mechanic, cashier, programmer, nurse or lawyer?
I don't tip every person I hire for every job, but if they go above and beyond somehow, I thank them for it in the form of a little extra cash or a gift card.
Just recently, I hired a young man to rebuild my front porch, he did a great job and got it done fast, so I padded out his check out by 10%.
When my father was dying of alzheimer's, we made a point of giving $100 gift cards during the holiday to the 3 or 4 nurses who treated him like a person instead of a job.
And then you realize they aren't educated enough to really have an objective opinion about the economics behind their predicament
I've heard people saying to tip as high as 40% and not to go out to eat if you can't do that! haha, what a rip off, but then it illuminates how any percentage is just as arbitrary.
Broken system that should be fixed. Also, many states do pay their wait staff a real wage but the consumer doesn't get to tell the difference, and is peer pressured into an amorphous American tipping culture.