> a waiter in a NYC restaurant made my then girlfriend crying when the waiter decided that the tip was not big enough That's certainly not the norm in the US.

> a waiter in a NYC restaurant made my then girlfriend crying when the waiter decided that the tip was not big enough That's certainly not the norm in the US. I've eaten in restaurants in every state and have never seen or experienced anything like that. It sounds like you just got a terrible server or restaurant.