We seem to have threads like this one fairly constantly on the go, so let me add a few points.

1. It is a complete misnomer to call this the "hospitality industry". Hospitality ? Huh !

2. I am not impressed by those from the industry who, as some above, feel they have to micro-analyse the steps of their job to make it sound arduous, eg "The wine waiter has to take the order, walk to the wine rack, take the bottle out, carry it to the table, show the bottle, ensure the label is the right way round, put in the corkscrew, turn the corkscrew round ....." etc. You know the stuff.

3. References to "the best service of your life" is something which, by definition, only occurs once in your lifetime, therefore so unlikely that it cannot be taken as a general rule.

4. A recent couple of weeks in the US, which probably led to some 30 or so meals in restaurants, at a range of places, and did not show one single example of "great" service. It seems over time that waiting staff try to get round more and more tables (providing less and less service to each) to maximise their 15% opportunities. It used to be that US service standards were way ahead of us here iin the UK, I remember. Not any more.

5. The number of people who seem to have their hands in the pot for the tips goes ever upwards. Just about everyone in the restaurant, hosts, kitchen, etc, now expects a share, and then you have the waiting staff who tell you that their money from serving goes to their "family of 8 in Latin America, and is putting my younger brother through college .....". Before long half the world will expect to be supported by our tips.

6. There are some places in the US, particularly tourist-oriented resorts, where adding gratuities is standard (people who live in Iowa never get to experience this). Invariably the credit card slip comes with the tip line still open. The line on the menu that describes this policy is invariably on the back, in the smallest font used on the menu.