Tip culture became popular in the American South during the slavery era, as a way for former slaveowners to "employ" former slaves without having to pay them directly.

https://time.com/5404475/history-tipping-american-restaurant...

The sooner the US can move past that era of its history, the better.

EDIT: I didn't expect "let's move past slavery" to be such an unpopular opinion on HN. Yikes.