Tipping Stockholm Syndrome

The Freakonomics blog posted this ludicrous tidbit: "...it's very odd to me that so many service people who perform similar functions get tipped and that flight attendants don't. Especially when they often work so hard for so many people, running back and forth with drinks, pillows, headphones, etc."

Yeah, I wonder why? Why don't cattle start tipping the slaughterhouse employees?

Every step of flying, from getting to the airport on one end, to getting out of the airport on the other, is a temple of misery, a bastion of discomfort and inconvenience.

Gee - I'm paying several hundred dollars to expose myself to asinine, capricious policies by an incredibly greedy bunch of companies that STILL can't turn a profit. Why shouldn't I cough up a couple extra bucks for the person who acts like getting me a second tiny cup of water in the third hour of the flight wasn't akin to asking her to clean my toenails with her teeth?