[bluetomcat]

Customer-service interactions as they are in the US are not popular and are considered obtrusive even in more extrovert cultures such as southern and eastern Europe. Small talk there generally takes place between colleagues and friends.

[redblacktree]

As a customer, I'm not exactly interested in small talk, and I know that the service person isn't either, but I walk a fine line. Because I care about people as people, I want get the message across, "I see you. I know you're a real person and not a robot. Thank you for being here to help me get my lunch today." I think non-verbal communication goes a long way with this. (for the opposite effect, I see people order without so much as looking at the service person) In any case, it's important to me that people aren't treated as robots or less-than because of the job they're doing.

[Bartweiss]

Years ago, someone pointed out to me that we tend to hustle through courtesy interactions faster than we really need to, which leads to tropes like "Have a nice flight!" "You too!" Since then, I've made an effort to reduce the number of those interactions, but spend a bit more focus on them. I've been surprised - consciously considering what I mean when I say 'thank you' apparently changes the delivery enough that people react visibly differently to it.

(It's tougher with phone calls, especially when some customer service rep is clearly being recorded and under orders to follow a script; I don't really know what to do there except explicitly say "I know this isn't your fault and you don't have a choice, but I don't want any of what you're offering.")

[QuantumGood]

Real sincerity is easily communicated via eye contact. Trying to seem sincere when not actually meaning is usually a voice tone/verbal strategy.

[Mediterraneo10]

> I want get the message across, "I see you. I know you're a real person and not a robot.

Thank goodness for self-service checkouts these days where we don’t have to be bothered to get that message across, though.

[redblacktree]

Yeah, agreed. We've got to figure out the humanitarian side with basic income or something else, but those kinds of jobs are a waste of life. Let them do literally anything else.

[drb91]

Hell they’re even creepy and draining in the US.

If you work in retail, you can see middle age white women get away with behavior (entitlement, rage, abuse) that would normally get cops called were they a different person. Customer service in the US is just straight broken.