I am richer than you syndrome?

This is a total assumption on your part bizclassboy... are you in their minds to know what Americans are thinking? Maybe they are thinking that they don't want to exploit poor working people?

In the US, the wait staff at most hotels/restaurants earn a minimum wage and, therefore, they depend on the 15-20% tip (depending on the level of service) to raise their families and to basically survive. This is totally voluntary as the tip is not calculated in the final tally but patrons have the attitude and the understanding that the wait staff got to make a living too.

In Italy, the coperta is 10% and automatically added to your bill ... the same goes to most places in Europe, Thailand, etc. Wait staff throughout the world have the same needs: to raise their families and to basically survive. The little that you giving them (for their service and extra effort) will not break you and will surely help them.

And as seanthepilot summed it in an earlier post:

The fact that the tip is expected should have no bearing. In countries that it's not a custom, it's not important to tip everyone. Even in places where it's expected, you, the customer should decide if one is warranted and at what amount.

I consider tipping to be reflective of the tippers situation as much as the service recieved. On good years, I'm likely to spread it around more than on bad years. Catch me in bad times, and them's the breaks.