1. In NYC at high end establishments servers regularly take home more than $100k a year in tips and declare only a fraction of that, it is not unknown for some waiters to not even bother to collect their actual wages as they are so paltry. Bfxfd last time I went out with a waitress from a high end restaurant in NY was over 22 years ago and at that time the person in question was pulling in over $100k per year. Do the numbers, 10 tables a night at $100 a table tips is $1000 A NIGHT, $5000 a week (only five days a week), $260k per year. Take out holidays, take out approximately a third which would go to other staff, you are still way above $100k, not including actual wages or meals.

2. I tip based on the service that I receive. Normal service in the US generally gets 10-16.something percent from me (I generally double the taxes, and may round up a few cents up or down to hit an exact dollar amount). That being said, bad service will generally get from me an amount that ranges from nothing to a paltry amount, generally a samll rounding up of the sum (i.e., an $87 bill I will round up to $90). I find that it is far more effective to make my point that service was bad by tipping a small amount rather than nothing at all.

3. Many years ago at a trendy Eurotrash restaurant, all cash, no cc's accepted. I was hugely embarrassed to witness the following: There were five of us and our Mediterranean host was paying. the bill was something like $704, the put down $800 ( I should note that the service was mediocre at best). The jerky waiter said, "You only tipped about 12%, it is THE LAW to tip at least 15%". As my embarrassed host fumbled to get more money out I let him HAVE IT.

I told my guy to put his wallet away. I asked for the manager (they were prepared for this) the smart ^ss manager arrived and parroted the same line. I pulled out my phone and dialled 911, the manager seemed flustered and asked "what I was doing". I simply stated that when the officers arrived I would like him to please explain to them where exactly in NYS it was the law, any law that anyone had to tip anything to anyone for any service. This flustered him, especially as I continued with the call. I then explained that I found their rudimentary hand written receipts really interesting and the fact that they were a cash business and that I would be calling the state tax authorities the next day. The manager walked away, came back and handed us $200 and asked us to leave.