Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think its pretty superficial. The Americans invented the Have-a-nice-day smiley face back in the 80s, and retail workers bent over backwards to act friendly. A few years before, the same clerks were a great deal less friendly, which is why the smilies were passed out by competitive-minded retailers..
In 1991, I drove back from Guatemala with a German girl who needed a ride, making her first visit to the USA. We stopped at the WalMart in McAllen, and she got back in the car saying "I can't believe how friendly everyone is". In the rest of the world, retail transactions are a business, to be gotten over with.
Today this is particularly noticeable in the former eastern bloc countries. In state-owned retail sales, you paid your money and shut up, if you don't like it, take your business elsewhere, if there is any elsewhere. That is still a vestigial attitude in those countries. Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Ukraine, all very rude and unhelpful retail staff. Cashiers talking on the phone, doing their nails, throwing your change at you. But everyone else in those countries are perfectly nice and civil.
Most of the strangers you encounter are customer service personnel, and the cultural traditions vary widely concerning the level of courteous helpfulness that applies in trade and commerce. But it is not a reflection of the general friendliness of the population at large.
I think its pretty superficial. The Americans invented the Have-a-nice-day smiley face back in the 80s, and retail workers bent over backwards to act friendly. A few years before, the same clerks were a great deal less friendly, which is why the smilies were passed out by competitive-minded retailers..
In 1991, I drove back from Guatemala with a German girl who needed a ride, making her first visit to the USA. We stopped at the WalMart in McAllen, and she got back in the car saying "I can't believe how friendly everyone is". In the rest of the world, retail transactions are a business, to be gotten over with.
Today this is particularly noticeable in the former eastern bloc countries. In state-owned retail sales, you paid your money and shut up, if you don't like it, take your business elsewhere, if there is any elsewhere. That is still a vestigial attitude in those countries. Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Ukraine, all very rude and unhelpful retail staff. Cashiers talking on the phone, doing their nails, throwing your change at you. But everyone else in those countries are perfectly nice and civil.
Most of the strangers you encounter are customer service personnel, and the cultural traditions vary widely concerning the level of courteous helpfulness that applies in trade and commerce. But it is not a reflection of the general friendliness of the population at large.
I didn’t notice any friendliness from service personnel in Los Angeles. In fact some of them could be considered rude by saying things like don’t touch that ( I just left the store without buying anything) or don’t cross the line in a supermarket in front of the cashier ( there is a line on the floor while you wait your turn, unheard of in Turkey). New Yorkers are generally considered rude but the service personnel there were more friendly than the ones in LA although even they didn’t seem extra friendly. Maybe this smiley face you mention was common in the 80’s and 90’s?
In America, there are nice people, mean people, outgoing people, introverted people, compassionate people, jealous people, happy people, sad people, real people, fake people.
I didn’t notice any friendliness from service personnel in Los Angeles. In fact some of them could be considered rude by saying don’t cross the line in a supermarket in front of the cashier ( there is a line on the floor while you wait your turn, unheard of in Turkey).
I live in the LA area and I've never even heard of this. You stand behind a line at a bank for privacy reasons, not at a supermarket.
In cvs, at least in some stores, it is customary to form a queue along an aisle until you're called by an available cashier. Like a bank.
I've only seen that at CVS in the pharmacy area. Again, to protect the customer's privacy. But if it's the store's policy, you can hardly call a cashier rude for pointing it out. She didn't make the rule
I've only seen that at CVS in the pharmacy area. Again, to protect the customer's privacy. But if it's the store's policy, you can hardly call a cashier rude for pointing it out. She didn't make the rule
We were just buying groceries. I know she didn’t make the rule, but the rule is not a very friendly and welcoming rule.
We were just buying groceries. I know she didn’t make the rule, but the rule is not a very friendly and welcoming rule.
Hmm, I'm sorry you didn't have a good experience shopping in LA, but "Please wait here until it is your turn to be served" doesn't strike me as either unfriendly or unwelcoming, just practical. Perhaps the store was having problems with people crowding at the cash register, or they just wanted to streamline the process of getting customers to the next available register.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
