Originally Posted by
cbn42
People still want to make their server happy, it's just human nature.
Some people do. Some people just stiff them. Most people seem to follow the social convention for its own sake, with very little to do with the actual server.
It's still "bidding" in the sense that a few people will tip more than the going rate. Others will follow, and eventually that will become the new standard. Then a few years later someone will raise it again and the cycle will repeat itself.
The standard range has been consistent my whole adult life; if it's a cycle, it's a wicked slow one.