BJ, don't blame the Germans, Dutch or anybody else for the position of your severs. Blame the ludicrous minimum wage system that's in place in the RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.
In the UK the normal tip to a waiter would be around 10%. When I first came to Germany I was a bit shocked to find out that tipping here is not such a big thing. Normal would probably be about 5% here in Munich. But then the servers are paid a more decent wage - as it should be. It's a cop-out to say that they should be paid less because they earn all their money from tippers. They're not performers, they're employees of a multi-billion dollar industry. This system also leaves the employees vulnerable to employer exploitation (taking the tips and only paying back to the employees a small percentage, pocketing the rest themselves) as it can not be controlled as wages can.
I've never been to the US but from what I've heard from friends who have, eating out is extremely cheap compared to Europe. No wonder, if the wages are such a pittance. To me it sounds like you guys have it all wrong, not the Europeans or others who visit.
