I agree, the tipping economy in the US is corrupt and rigged to benefit the owners. Service employees should be paid a living wage. However, currently they're not, so while I would love to only patronize establishments that pay a living wage, that's not really an option. In the meantime, I don't take out my frustrations on the staff who are the victims of this system by short-changing them.

You are every bit as much of a victim as the staff.

As is the taxpayer: it's estimated that over $20bn of tax underpayment is non-reported tips, constituting 10% of the tax gap.