I can't help but think tipping in the US is a false economy. Having arrived a couple of months ago, I've felt obliged to tip to subsidize wages rather than reward good service. I've been told off for not tipping enough rather than asked what was wrong with the service.
I see tipping as the opposite (and wage laws make it easier). Unlike most professions, there's no asking for a raise each year to keep up with inflation or reward your progress at getting better at your job. It's immediate feedback and compensation for doing a better job. Not leaving a tip signals that you would have been better off not being served by them. If a person whose main income is from tips (and gets the 2.xx/hour wage because of it), they declare and are taxed on their tips. If they don't make enough in tips in a pay period to receive the prevailing minimum wage (i think 7.xx/hour, but I don't remember for sure), the business is required to pay them minimum wage. If someone yells at you for not tipping them, just ask to talk to the manager, explain why they didn't deserve a tip (based on their service) and the fact that they berated you for it. Nearly every time they will be fired on the spot (or at the end of their shift) because it's the same as saying the business expects you to pay for crappy service.
Better than no tip is the one-cent tip. No tip may be someone forgetting; one cent makes the point clear.
To be clear myself, in ~15 years of being the paying party I have done this precisely once, so I'm not advocating making a habit out of it. I'm just saying, it makes the point that much more.
Same happend to me in NYC. We did not tip enough and the waiter dropped the f-bomb on us and told us to never come back. He even threw the tip after us.
I did not get it. Where i live we usually tip 10% and in other countries i have been they sometimes refuse to take tips at all.
For me it looks like in many restaurants in the US the tip is part of the paycheck.
