They're jerking themselves off. This way they can feel like they're doing God's work, and they can afford to do it all the time.

Well, yah. This is like why the Nigerian Princes put spelling mistakes in their phishing emails. You don't want to hook the smart ones.

I’ve never had them leave real money with it.

They probably think they are giving you real money. A lot of these folks are prosperity gospel cretins that think God financially rewards the faithful. From their perspective, if they succeed in converting you, they may be giving you a tip worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's twisted.

(Not to say I'm a fan of tip culture either, but that's how waitstaff get paid in the US, and stiffing one person on a tip isn't going to change that.)

Thank you for adding that part.

Yes, the system is bullshit, but it's nobody's place to decide that their server should work for free because you want to protest.

I'll support change, but until then, tip your servers well. It's a hard job, and they deserve much more respect than most people give them.

It is more than you think, but still less churches than bars.

In Germany it would simply be amusing and mildly obnoxious, because German waitstaff get paid a living wage and tips are not expected at all. Also, Americans tend to be the only ones who tip.

Demand that he return to remove his litter before you pay the invoice.

Oh, he doesn't want to be rehired I assume

If they were nice they wouldn't trick you.

If they are not American, there's no way they'll ever be able to comprehend THAT.

No. It’s over a pay period and you will not get scheduled if you go this route as a server.

And you expect the boss to actually make up the difference. There's a reason wage theft is so common in the US.

Those cities also tend to be governed by mostly Democrats while the ones under the thumb of the GOP are very happy watching people try to survive on $7.25

Fascinating. Do people also write down the amount of tips received each hour? To make sure the boss pays for the slow hour, and it doesn't end up coming out of your own pocket anyways, from the other more busy hour? I can't believe Americans are doing that amount of maths?

When I was a pizza delivery boy, I just did the cashing-up once a day. The cash register would know how much of the money in my pocket was owed to the boss, and I got to keep the change. Only time maths was involved was when the delivery cars broke down (which they did all the time) and I had to use my own car and the boss had to compensate me for using my own car.