I would disagree. People generally do want to know how others are feeling and these conversations often start with some sort of proscribed ritual but can then turn into either conversations or repeated short interactions can possibly build up a rapport. At the very least, it doesn’t hurt to be polite.

We must at least acknowledge each other as human. Walking through the world in our own little bubbles considering every other service worker in our life as nothing but a facilitator of our goods and services is awful and contributing to the alienation we’re in today.

How do you know they don’t care about the answer? I bet quite a few do. You gotta adjust the level of detail to how well you know someone, they arent looking for a whole conversation, you both have shit to do. People are generally nicer than you’re giving credit for i think. I have this rosy image cause I talk to a lot of strangers and most are delighted to have a quick chat

So I used to have an issue like this about the expression “bless you” when people sneeze. I’m solidly in the atheist camp, and the entire history of the phrase is nonsense anyway.

But I finally realized it doesn’t matter. People started saying it because of the plague, but it’s still courteous to say something when someone sneezes. It doesn’t matter if you say, “bless you” “salud” “gesundheit” etc, just that you say something.

It’s polite, that’s it. I’m not forsaking my beliefs and converting to Christianity by saying “bless you” whether it bothers me slightly or not.

That’s literally how it works in many non-American cultures, yes.

I may not be a world-weary traveler, but I have spent time in different cultures and they have been more cordial and more interactive with each other across the store counter than the “serve me now robot” mentality of USians. The only times I have seen the “don’t exchange greetings” mindset in other cultures are when it’s explicitly across the class divide, where the bourgsies wouldn’t deign to speak with the lowly proles serving them.

Literally what you’re trying to do

No, it’s literally what Le_Wokisme and apparently you are trying to do. The default social behavior is to recognize that the person serving you is human and the common way to do that is to greet them in some way, usually by asking them about the state of their being (which is by the way common across many non-western non-global north cultures). There is room for behaving differently depending on particular circumstances. If someone behind the counter is clearly having a bad day and their body language is clear they don’t want to talk, then maybe an understanding sad-smile and a nod will suffice. But insisting that we’re better off or that it’s more respectful to not to say anything in recognition of the human interaction you’re having is absurd. I say this as an introvert with social phobias who had/has to work retail and service. It’s still a thousand times more degrading to be treated as if I were a vending machine or as if I’m not even there than it is to be greeted in passing even when I don’t feel like making small talk.

That’s great, happy for you and them.

Amazing what kind of positive things can come out of basic human social interactions.

How many others have you gotten fired for trying?

Am I actually reading this on hexbear? Someone is making the argument that it’s wrong to attempt to let people know what their options are for unionizing because of the potential their bosses might find out and retaliate? I guess that’s it, we better throw in the towel, any attempt at unionizing is a wash, now that the capitalist class might do some shit to punish it. Also, @GalaxyBrain@hexbear.net made it clear they were talking about being on the service employee side of the counter - they are talking about telling their customers about their union organizers and being successful, not handing out strike fliers to a worker while they’re working ffs.

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My advice to anyone still reading this thread is to do what you think is right for that particular circumstance with that particular service person. Obviously I can’t speak for all neurodivergent people who work retail because at least one in this thread doesn’t want to be greeted. But speaking for myself and the coworkers and friends I’ve known who have expressed their sentiments with me, many if not most of us appreciate being greeted and asked how we’re doing, not ignored.

That’s great, happy for you and them. How many others have you gotten fired for trying?

In what universe is conceding the class war ever going to help us? The bourgeois might fight back so we shouldn’t do anything?

Thomas Sankara:

As revolutionaries, we don’t have the right to say we are tired of explaining. We must never stop explaining. We know that when the people understand, they cannot help but follow us.

None, because i’m smart. Only really get into radical stuff when you spot people on break, who i have already established a rapport with by asking about their day and continuing the conversation as we do the checkout thing.

For the rest, other people have already represented my case pretty well and I dont feel like entertaining this any further.

That’s literally how it works in many non-American cultures, yes. Seems extremely weird how pushy you’re being about this.

Virtually nobody outside of weird ass Krauts and Nordics act like this. If anything, your average person is far chattier to strangers than your average Burgerlander. In most countries, you can get away discussing (and arguing) politics with random strangers while you can’t even discuss politics with acquaintances in the US. Taxi uncs are a thing throughout the world. They’re anything but quiet.

But then again, that’s the price Western European societies and their settler-colonial spawns pay for being the geographical origin of capitalism. It turns their society into a crowd of completely atomized individuals that can’t even communicate with each other who start malding whether someone gives them a simple greeting, a social custom that has existed in every single human society throughout history and honestly even in every single nonhuman society.