Americans have consistently over-tipped for years.

However, I do not blame servers for taking the money nor getting used to it. I believed I was overpaid by the USPS but was not going to refuse their money.

It is the customers who have been tipping too much and it has now become expected. OP is right in that $5 from 4 tables is $20/hour but that is a low estimate of what servers make.

I have worked, managed, and owned restaurants for 48 years. Most servers I know make $35/ hour or more. I believe that is a low estimate because I have never seen any server actually keep records of their tips plus hourly pay to see what they actually make per hour. Cash on hand was easier to spend rather than track. Credit card tipping has eliminated much of that and can be tracked easier now but it is incomplete without exact cash tips.

Any server that would complain about a $5 tip on a $60 tab has never had to live on $7.25-$15/hour. If they did, they would understand that a cook making $10/hr has to work 30 minutes just to tip them $5. Even though, as OP points out, that server is making double what that cook makes.

Most Americans just do not understand. And this ‘Suggested Tip’ is a joke. First, why are we tipping on the total amount including taxes? Second, are you telling me that a server at Applebees is working any less than a server at Ruth Chris Steakhouse? But, tips per table are more like $10 at Applebees and $40 at Ruth Chris. Same amount of work but two different tipping amounts.

Solution: An established ‘target hourly wage’ needs to be set. Then the ‘Suggested Tip’ needs to be programmed to achieve this. (PEOPLE! We are in 2024! We have AI now but we cannot create a proper tipping system?) When it is busier, the suggested tip will be less per table because the computer program will recognize the business volume and know that it will take less per table to achieve that targeted hourly wage. When it is slower, the tip amount will be slightly higher per table because the computer program will know that it will take more per table to hit that ‘target hourly wage’. This should, also, be a system that is regulated by the labor department to make sure the program is not tampered with by any unscrupulous business owner or manager. This way, the customer can trust the system and know the ‘target wage’ it is set to pay. Everyone tips the middle amount and that target gets hit. However, they are still free to tip more for good service or less for bad service.