Life is easier if you just always tip 20% no matter what. I go to restaurants to eat. It's not my job to judge the waiter, and who am I to judge someone I don't know on a job I've never done?

Tipping is stupid, yes, but that's the culture and people need it to live. Only exception I make is if a restaurant has a required gratuity (usually 18%), I don't tip any additional.

It is really bizarre. I worked at a wannabe-Chili's restaurant in the Midwest for a while. The most unexpected thing I learned was that college-aged couples understood the struggle. Different people on different occasions, they'd be super easy-going, and they tipped me $20 on a bill of like $18.

This made such a huge difference when I was making literally $2.13 an hour.

Bigger families with kids or stuffy "business meeting " people usually ran you ragged and tipped like garbage, also while leaving the surrounding area absolutely demolished after camping around long after their meal.