Tipping

  I like American Roadhouse Express because one doesn't have to leave a tip.  There are lots of things I don't understand about restaurants.  Why do they leave the guest check upside down?  What does tips mean?  I've heard it said TIPS stands for to insure prompt service but if that was true shouldn't the tip be given before the meal? 
  I'm a generous tipper but I base my tips on the quality of the service and not on the quality of the food.  What I don't like about tipping is the waitress in a popular diner where the meals are inexpensive and the business is brisk actually works much harder than a waitress or waiter in an upscale place but for much less.  Go to Golden Coral where it cost $10.00 for all you can eat and watch people tip.  The waitress is lucky to get a dollar out of most folks.  Go to Outback where it costs about $25.00 per person and she gets $5.00 per person.  The waitress at Golden Coral works much harder. 
   I don't think tipping should be based on the price of the food but the quality of the service.  It should be standardized across the board.  It just doesn't seem fair that a person can go into a restaurant and order a sausage and egg biscuit   and have his coffee refilled five times and leave his waitress a dollar tip (20% of his $5.00 total bill)  then later goes to a steakhouse for dinner where the wait person refills his drink once after drinking half a glass before his meal arrived and then offered a refill   after he finished eating and then drops a five dollar bill on the wait person (20 % of his $25.00 bill).  He got much better service at breakfast and based on how hard the wait staff worked the one at breakfast worked much harder.