I agree, it's definitely more pleasant. When my mum was visiting she commented that the pleasantness of customer service was really amazing. What impressed her

I agree, it's definitely more pleasant. When my mum was visiting she commented that the pleasantness of customer service was really amazing. What impressed her most was that there are people whose sole job it is to welcome yoy into a store. But I have to admit that after the thousandth reflexive "How are you" without caring for a response, the novelty wears off. What if sometimes I'm not "Good, thanks, how are you?" ... but that would be impolite.