Out of control: no one knows how much to tip

> Many people tip … with the expectation of better service.

How does this work if you tip at the very end of the interaction? The server doesn’t know how much you’re planning to tip. Do they have to profile you and estimate how much of a tip you’re going to leave? Hopefully not!

Is it only for repeat customers on subsequent trips? I assume that’s a minority, but I really have no idea.

The worst is when I’m in a situation where I don’t know if tips are expected or even allowed (let alone how much). You’re supposed to tip unskilled labor, but not skilled labor, and only if they’re not the business owner, etc. How do I avoid accidentally being stingy!?

I've tipped occasionally on these, but I've stopped. For anything transactional, I'm not leaving a tip. Having a waiter at a table has some relationship component to it, tipping makes sense. Choosing how much you value the meaningless 5 second interaction you just had with the person that took your order is ridiculous - if they want to add a service fee, fine, but the very fact that you're choosing how much to give them renders the whole thing pointless.

I bought skis the other day And the menu showed an option for 1-5% tip. Like who does the tip even go to? Super confusing