Thanks Sicy. I agree. Once you have paid a price for something, you shouldn't have to add to it, and if they don't like their job they should quit.
I have to say, some of the posters in this thread have really missed the issue. I am NOT against tipping waitresses. I am against it when I tip them nicely for their average service and they get as rude as if I had not tipped at all. They walk off like they're going to the back to cuss me. Well, as some others have said, and I said, I am not rich enough to go around bestowing gifts on people. I can't give them more than I can to help them with their miserable existence, because I have one too. I don't think I should be made to 'not eat out' anymore because someone doesn't appreciate my 20% tip. No one is hardhearted to the plight of these people and most of us have been there ourselves. That's all the more reason it's so frustrating and makes me not want to even bother when they get rude, whiney, and act cold. Would it really be hard to say, "thank you?" That attitude doesn't make me want to tip higher, it makes me regret tipping them at all!
Examples: It was a small Italian resturant. My guest and I got two lunch specials, $5 each, a sub, fries and drink. As I was paying out with my credit card, the waitress hovered behind the cashier until she saw what I wrote. She saw $2.25. She rolled her eyes, bit her teeth, turned on a dime and clodded back into the kitchen as if I had not tipped at all. She had been nice, but had not done anything other than her job. She took our orders, carried them out, and refilled our drinks once. I feel my tip was more than fair. If I ever eat there again, I will not eat in.
Another example: I was with a little kid in an IHOP. We had a coupon for a free kid's meal. I got a burger meal. The total bill was around $8.00. The wait boy totally neglected us from the time he brought our food until it was time to go, then when he saw us get up to leave he came running over, kissing up, playing friendly to get money. I handed him two dollars. He glared down at it with his mouth open with a look on his face as if I had shit in his hand. He never thanked me or even moved. I was disgusted.
There are other bad experiences but I won't go on. It bugs me that some in this thread seem as though they are holier than thou for 'helping out the struggling' and look down their noses at the ones who are against expected excessive tipping. We are not bad people. We have to live our lives too. Like somebody else said, if I was a millionaire I would hand out gifts but I can't. Should I never eat out or do anything fun because my 20% tip isn't good enough, or someone making a normal average wage wants more too because they see waitresses getting it?
I believe in tipping waiters/waitresses 15-20% and if that's not good enough, I'm sorry. As for the tip jars and the other people wanting tips, yeah, this has gotten bad. Adding tipping to take out, delivery, etc. only sets precedents which everyone will come to expect. It's pathetic that the US has sunk to the level where even people with jobs have to beg!