The fact that tipping is considered almost mandatory is why service in many restaurants is terrible. People don't want to appear cheap, so they leave a big tip even when they get poor service, which means there's no incentive for the waitress to actually do her job well, which is the whole point of tipping to begin with. I have no problem with tipping 20%-25% if I get good service, but I'm in my mid-twenties and I'll often get ignored for older, wealthier looking costumers because the wait staff assumes they'll leave an extra large tip, and everyone else is is just expected to leave a decent tip anyway. The whole concept of tipping has gotten way out of hand, most bartenders get paid $8-$12 an hour, but they still expect to be tipped as much as waitresses, who get paid almost entirely from tips. Waitresses take the order, and make multiple trips bringing drink refills and the food, but the bartender expects to get the same tip, in addition to his hourly wage, just for handing me a drink, or spending maybe 1 minute tops mixing a drink. How does that make any sense? There was even a thread on here where a few people said they tip their UPS/Fedex driver, who's already getting paid $30 an hour. Tipping either needs to go back to being considered an incentive that needs to be earned, or done away with completely and restaurants, bars, etc., just pay their employees normal wages like other businesses.