I live in NYC and was actually thinking about Trader Joe's and checkout lines here generally when I wrote my comment. Cashiers here generally don't waste anytim

I live in NYC and was actually thinking about Trader Joe's and checkout lines here generally when I wrote my comment. Cashiers here generally don't waste anytime with small-talk and that's understood as common practice since we're all in a hurry. In other parts of the country, some small talk is expected and one party will be viewed as rude if they don't participate. I prefer we skip it.