That's the point. There's a friend episode where Rachel and Ross go out for dinner with her Dad. He pays the bill ($200 or so - fancy resturant) and goes to the bathroom. Ross comments he'd 'only' tipped 4%, and leaves some cash.

Great putdown when the father comes back, sees the tip, rips up the credit card receipt and tells Ross to pay the whole bill if he wants to be the 'big man'

> Tipping is just the way portions of the food service industry works.

A number of industries (but which industries - how do I tip the person who takes my order at a mcdonalds drivethrough. Do I tip my builder who put in a new window? How about the binman?), in a small number of countries (do I tip in Mexico City? Quito? Brazzerville?)

The U.S. seems to have built an expectation of tipping into its economy and tries to export that expectation around the world.