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I tip, but I think that the system is bad; basically, employers have ducked out of their responsibility to pay a living wage. At least in my state, waiters always must be paid minimum wage regardless of their tips.
One of the ways that management abuses the tip system, at least in dinner houses, is by overstaffing. Since management doesn't pay much for the employees (customers do), they'll often overstaff on waiters on slow nights, just on the chance that there'll be a rush. So a lot of waiters stand around with little to do and making little money. Or they're given things to do, but not anything that generates tips.
I live in an area where no-one can survive on the minimum wage, so I do tip. But I also do not patronize restaurants that give poor service. I like my order taken promptly, I like a waiter who's happy to speak the kitchen about a special order, who anticipates many of my needs (refills on water, bread, condiments and so on) before they become an issue, and seems happy to be there while projecting a minimum of attitude. Do you know how hard that is to find?
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