Hmm. I think of "checkout politeness" as asking "did you find everything?" while in the act of scanning my stuff. And then no more chit-chat. They can say "have a nice day" at the end if they like, and I won't gut them for it.

Which is why I use self-checkout and/or shop on the internet as much as humanly possible.

But these days I often see a line come to a standstill because someone's more interested in their cellphone conversation than their transaction.

That has happened to me twice in the past 18 hours while in NYC. Get off your fucking phone you fucking self important tool.

Yes, Cass, there is a Fire Festival. In Kiev. For those who aren't chicken.

But these days I often see a line come to a standstill because someone's more interested in their cellphone conversation than their transaction.

Oh lord yes! Also, retail is often thankless and kind of a beatdown sometimes. Exchanging plesantries with the cashier or counter person helps with that a bit. When I worked retail it was heartening when I told someone to "Have a nice day!" they said "Thanks! You too!" back.

When I worked at The Gap and someone came up to the counter with their stuff and was on the phone, I would take it, scan it, fold it, bag it, then wait. And stare at them. And not move a muscle until they got off the phone.

Fire Festival

But these days I often see a line come to a standstill because someone's more interested in their cellphone conversation than their transaction.

I used to do mystery shopping at grocery stores, and I *loved* being able to describe in my report how the cashier and bagger were so busy talking to each other that (1) I stood there waiting and then got a look of impatience FROM THE CASHIER when I asked if she could ring me up, and/or (2) completely messed up the checkout process, to the point where I was markedly overcharged and was told "I ain't gonna fix it. Go up to the service desk."

(I also used my powers for good; any time I got good service, I made a point to report that, too.)

Ah, see, we had a totally polite, if passive aggressive way of handling it.

To person on the phone: I understand you're having an important conversation. I'll take the next person and let you finish up with that.

Hil: And that's why I loved New York. People say what they mean and get on with things. It's like a more fun, less passive-aggressive London.

Now, bear in mind that even in New York, I still was able to see through people's masks as their face turned red and they didn't want to say anything embarrassing to the nice Israeli tourist. A friend of mine said that Americans are only polite to each other beacuse they don't know if the other one is armed.

I don't see it very often on Brits, though. I can't read them with their manners, so I don't care about what strikes me as hypocrisy.

A friend of mine said that Americans are only polite to each other beacuse they don't know if the other one is armed.

Actually we're generally polite to each other because the vast majority of us are nice friendly people.