PREACH!

I worked on and off as a waiter for 10 years, 4 of them at a comedy club that had 15% "auto-gratuity", which wasn't enforced. Nor was there a minimum so you could get a whole section, of EIGHT or more tables, with no one buying anything. On an above average week though I could walk out of there with $400 cash, plus we were paid slightly higher so we'd get a $30ish paycheck every two weeks. Some weeks I'd be lucky to walk out of there with $100.

But tipping does need to change in this country. There are a number of restaurants now that pay upwards of $30k/year with benefits and don't allow tips.

On the other hand, waiters at high-end and tourist attraction restaurants can make upwards of 6 figures. I have a friend in Nashville that waits tables and he cleared almost $90k in 2016.