Agreed, the entire system of tipping the American way should be fucking illegal. Wait staff should earn a living wage. I think it’s way more complicated than that, and you see pushback from the owners and the servers, and any movements to change it haven’t had enough backing socially to change anything.

But that’s kinda how it works, you choose to engage with it by going to an establishment with enployees that rely on tips. I mean hell, most of the time if you have a bad experience it’s due to something the waiter can’t control. Kitchen issues, staffing levels, poorly handled rushes. Being gleeful about how little you tip because of how things have changed… just don’t go out. Avoid having a shitty experience and being a shitty experience for someone else.