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Why is tipping even calculated as a percentage? It's not like the work done by the waiter is suddenly 10x harder or more deserving of reward when they're bringing a plate with a $100 dish rather than a $10 dish.

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First of all, the final bill is typically larger because more dishes were brought. Second, if that is not the case, waiters are expensive places expect more, because those places are more expensive and hire better waiters who do more and better work.

>First of all, the final bill is typically larger because more dishes were brought

I suppose that makes sense in certain cases (eg. you getting appetizer + drink + main + desert vs just a main), but utterly broken in others (eg. you getting a $15 main vs a $25 main). If tips were truly based on service it'd be a flat fee per plate or something, that varies per restaurant.

$15/25 just per cent, not even a doubling.

When a restaurant brings a bill that's six times larger than the one to the next table, that's usually because twelve people sit at your table and need service, and two people do at the next.

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