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I worked retail many years ago. I found the required fake cheer rather horrid. I was good at it, and every now and then I'd have an interesting chat. But I prioritized moving people through _fast_, because they didn't come to chat with me, they came to buy their stuff.

It might depend on the store. I used to get stuck behind cashiers and customers who obviously knew each other and would get into long conversations while I stood there waiting.

I too worked retail and dreaded having another interaction of forced/fake pleasantries, pretending to give a damn about what the customer wanted. Give me a digitized interaction or give me death.

I seem to have seen the opposite recently, possibly because the cost of living has gone up significantly faster than the wages for low-end jobs.