I try really hard to be nice/polite to the checkout person, but I'm not really a social butterfly so talking is hard. I just make sure to smile and maybe joke around a little bit. I'm not as good at that as my mother is, though. She'll have a full on conversation with the checkout person. She's incredibly nice to them and I'm pretty sure that having someone like that come down is a nice break from the people who just bark at you. >w> I try to do the same thing or at the very least be courteous because I know that the job has to be hard. I mean, I've never done it myself but I've seen how some people treat cashiers. >w> I wish they'd respect the cashiers a little more.

I've worked in two supermarkets so I really do know the pain but everyone here in NYC is so rude/incompetent I just can't find it in myself to be anything but neutral towards them. >.>

I'm friendly and courteous to everyone and my friends and family always give me a hassle about it, which leads me to wonder when it became reproachable to be polite and kind to people. Maybe more cynical people find it to be annoying. Several times a year I have customer service people tell me that I'm the "politest customer" they've ever had. I even got three months of free cable because I was very polite and pleasant to my cable company even though they had to send out a technician four times to fix my internet connection.

I think it's great that other people can take the perspective that there's no reason to be discourteous to others and there's nothing but good that can come from it. If everyone were courteous then your customer service people would probably be more pleasant to be around as well. ^.^

My problem is the uncurteous customer service. Hard to be nice to someone who hung up on you mid sentence 4 times...

Though... I believe that "be nice to cashiers" thing stopped being popular about 5-10 years ago?

It is certainly a little unfair when you have to deal with a rude customer service rep, but I always give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they've been dealing with rude customers all the time and it's left them jaded and shielded. It doesn't always work, but sometimes they soften up just by dealing with a polite customer. I know I've certainly softened up on polite customers myself after having to deal with a jerk when I was a retail worker.

That's the main reason I have patience with employees more than anything else. One manager had to work completely alone and he had an important family phone call and he was apologizing so much cause it took like half an hour.

But I wanted ^^
Partly cause those burritos were so dang good back then

A little more patience could make the world a better place, especially when driving. xD
My roommate is the worst. I don't like driving with her because her own unnecessary stress often stresses me out. I don't feel right lecturing her about it though, but so often I want to just grab her shoulders and say, "Whatever, the guy is front of you is slow, you'll still get there with time to spare, just relax!"

Oh gosh... my first time driving left me afraid of driving for that very reason o.o

It would be good if people were nice on the road as well as nice to store clerks.

Agreed ^^
People need to just slow down a bit in life and enjoy the small things in life.

That is the wisest thing anyone can say. ^.^

I learned that from a washington post entry called Pearls Before Breakfast. A world famous violinist played in a busy station as a test. Almost nobody noticed.

Ah, I'm a classical music enthusiast. I would have noticed the performance even if I didn't know the artist. That's such an awful shame. Then again, to give people the benefit of the doubt, I'm sure most people don't know enough about violin virtuosity to be able to recognize the violinist as anything but a random person playing in a public and potentially panhandling.

Well, he was disguised as a violinist playing for money, but he played some of the most captivating (but not modern) songs he knew.

I think he ended up making less than a concert ticket costs. Apparently the same spot he was at a hobo died and stayed there for hours before anyone noticed.

It's sad what modernity has done for us. So much good in many cases, but so awfully tragic in all others.

Well some of us gotta keep livin like sirs and ladies :)
Can't let that die... even if I have to use a cane and wear a tophat...

LOL!

*curtsies* As you wish. ~.^

Whoo... that makes 1 each :D time to spread it like a disease!

One each? I'm misunderstanding you, forgive me. (And please, no diseases for me, thank you. xD )

Yes, a lady and a sir correct? (Guessing this because you curtsied)

Happiness is a disease :D just takes a smile!

I was more curtsying TO the sir, as it were, not claiming to be a lady myself. But I'll accept the invitation to nobility. ~.^

If happiness is a disease, I propose we make it a plague!

Yes... plague the world with eternal happiness and watch them SUFFER!!!

Well, now you just make it sound like there will be a nightmarish amount of happiness that will drive people mad. Then people will search for a vaccine to happiness and it will all just cycle in reverse. *sigh* The futility of it all. Let's just spread happiness the normal, only slightly communicable way with humor, smiles, and nostalgic references to things pleasant. ~.^

Aww... no ticklemaster2000?

Oh goodness, I think at that point it would qualify as torture. "You will laugh, and we will MAKE you laugh!" *shudders*