> I think that a lot of customer-service personnel want to remain as much in their own headspace as possible while they are forced to stand there dealing with s

> I think that a lot of customer-service personnel want to remain as much in their own headspace as possible while they are forced to stand there dealing with strangers just to pay their bills, and so this behaviour would be imposing on them. I can only speak to my own experiences in food service, but if everyone thought this way, it would make for a very dull shift imo. quick conversations with customers really helped pass the time for me. particularly entertaining customers would often find extra food in their bag ;) keep in mind there's a lot of low-wage work out there. some people are desperate and have to take the first position they can get, but a lot of people in directly customer facing roles have chosen that for a reason. they probably could have worked in the kitchen or restocked shelves in a grocery store if they really didn't want to talk to people. timing and context is important of course. if the line behind you is twenty people deep, it's a bad time to chat. if the place is empty and the person is doing low-priority busywork, they might love to shoot the shit for a few minutes. > Also, for female baristas, customers flirting with them are one of their biggest complaints, and it is all too easy for any social interaction to be misinterpreted as flirting. first half of this is true, but you're taking it to a bit of an extreme. flirting with someone who's paid to be nice to you is almost always a bad idea, but an innocent conversation is no big deal.