That’s the question floated recently over at the Atlantic Food Channel, where Corby Kummer suggested that America’s tipping culture is broken and needs to be fixed.

Y&H has understood for more than two years now what kind of animosity tipping can bring out in diners. For those who don’t remember, or missed it altogether, check out this July 2007 edition of Ask Tim, which generated 70 comments, many of them quite nasty toward the idea of a required 20 percent tip.

It was clear then, and it’s clear now: The whole process of compensating waiters and waitresses is totally messed up. It creates resentment on both sides of the table.

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Caring for the needs of the dining public is a pain in the ass. I know. I tried my hand at waiting tables in late 2007 at PS 7’s. I’m sympathetic to Wait Staff Nation—the long hours they spend on their feet, the copious amounts of information they have to synthesize and deliver quickly to diners, and the endless shit they get from the kitchen and customers alike.

But sometimes the front of the house staff is just clueless. I mean, utterly, painfully clueless, and their cluelessness can hurt a diner’s experience. Let me give you two examples from the weekend:

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