Tipping and automatic bathrooms

The US runs on a very bizzare economy. Just about everything you buy doesn't actually cost what is listed. You have to add tax and then a tip. And trying to decide what to tip a surly waiter is quite difficult, but then you get the bill and they have kindly added in the 'gratuity' so you don't have to strain!! I wonder whether when they work out the cost of living are all of these extra charges included and are they claimed as income by the cab driver or the server, or the bus boy?
The bathrooms are bizarre...they have automated the flushing, the hand washing and the hand towel dispensers, its all quite disconcerting at first but you eventually get so used to it that when a bathroom isn't automatic you look quizzically at the toilet wondering why it doesn't flush. In the new washington libraries they have been including green elements and the toilets are dual flush, I overheard a couple of librarians laughing about this and the sign that went with the toilet that says. 'For liquid waste pull handle up for solid waste push handle down'
It's a funny country but I like it.
Now for New York....