I'm so glad pizza joints take credit cards now. They build in the mandatory service charge of course (and I don't fight that), but the CC's have eliminated the old pizza driver "I don't have change" routine or its first cousin, the "let me slowly wander back out to my car to slowly look for change" routine.

The reality for waiters in the U.S. is that it's firmly entrenched in the culture. It's universally accepted as a practice; therefore not doing it for reasons unrelated to the waiter's service really isn't fair.

Even if you think the entire process is wrong and that the demand curve for waitstaff talent should be based completely upon a base wage, that's not reality. If that *was* reality, we'd undoubtedly see a higher base cost for the food, so in a way the ability to tip empowers the customers in a way.

Thus, using that power judiciously (e.g., not tipping sh***y service or being overly generous for great service) is a fair thing, but simply saying "I'm not tipping because I don't like the economic model" is unkind.