I think we all agree that tipping sucks, but it’s the world we live in (in the US at least). Wantonly refusing to tip waitstaff just means you’re Mr. Pink,[1] and I don’t think anyone wants to be Mr. Pink.

[1]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4sTSIYzDIk

He's the only one that lived at the end of the movie if I recall correctly, so everyone would want to be mr Pink?

His rant also convinced other people on that table because there was no flaw in his reasoning.

Where I live, waitstaff are paid the same minimum wage as every other worker, there's no tipped vs non-tipped dichotomy here. The way I see it, if all you did as waitstaff for me, was bring me glass of water, take my order using your tablet where you just tapped a few buttons, and then finally brought out the plate of food...I don't see how that deserves much consideration.

Sure, if I go to a nice restaurant, and the waiter chats me up, figures out what I like, suggests some dishes, does some non-standard stuff to make my experience at the restaurant memorable -- I will tip that. But if all you're doing as a waiter in my locale is tapping a few buttons on your POS handheld and then later bringing over a couple of plates, I don't see that as being worth much of a tip.