Back in the late 50's or early 60's some good friends of mine visited NYC and had dinner at Momma Leone's restaurant. Some couple got up and were walking to the exit when the waitress called out to them so loudly that everyone could hear "Oh sir, thanks for that $2.00 tip" That brought the house down, but intimidated my friends into leaving a big tip.
I normally tip around 12-15% (Normal in our area) but they recently opened an Applebees in our neighborhood. Back in NY they were pretty good but at this one we got a surly arrogant waitress who argued with me over my order (Which she got wrong) so I left her a 5 cent tip and will never go back there.