I've had friends (and they have friends) who have told me some curling-hair stories too.
To be clear, I have never "stiffed" meaning leaving no tip at all. I don't believe I've ever had service that would even make me think of it and I'm hard pressed to recall leaving even a small one.
Your tone sounded quite confrontational [of course it's difficult to say for sure when merely reading, not hearing]. But I still can't get my head around how leaving a tip that might be smaller than a waitron would want is "stealing" from them. That is rubbish. It reminds me of the old joke that goes: if you walk you save the 75-cent bus fare, but if you run behind a cab you save $10.
Maybe my tone was a bit confrontational. Having a good meal out with friends, etc. in a nice restaurant is one of the major pleasures in life.
The problem today is that many people don't know how to behave in a restaurant. They see it as an opportunity to exert some measure of pointless power over the wait staff. They scarf down their food as if it's a competition for speed. And table manners have deteriorated to the point of shameful...
The one time I'm sure didn't leave a tip was when I found dirt all over my salad and the waiter acted as if he didn't care. Otherwise, I tip twenty percent. Not tipping isn't stealing because it's a add-on benefit and not pay or entitlement. Some people act as if you should tip them for merely doing what their job requires and not beyond what their job requires (like Starbucks baristas!).