Beautifully written, Nicole. You laid bare all my thoughts. Tipping in the United States can sometimes be frustrating. I like the idea of giving a tip for good service but how do you tell when service providers are constantly expecting a tip even for the tiniest of service rendered? I once visited a restaurant in SF and I didn't know the minimum amount to tip was 35%. If I had known, I bet I would have gone somewhere else.

I wonder why staff are not paid decent wages, leading the sole dependency on the customers for tip. The culture has really gotten too far and it is borderline annoying in some cases.