Making Nice

It took me years to come to understand that the etiquette of entering a small shop in France requires that the customer first greet the owner or salesperson ("Bonjour") before embarking upon whatever brought one into the place.  As an American shopper I am in the habit of entering a store expecting that my anonymity will be respected as I go about my business.  I note increasingly, however, that it seems employees are now instructed to make verbal contact instantly. This morning I read in the Times of some man who was let go by a box store because he failed to respond with a greeting when approached by a shopper (who was actually a store employee in disguise set up to do this kind of sting operation).  And think of all the employees wandering around in those box stores!  It is not just that one employee greets you, everyone you come across as you move through the place sings out a greeting.  I noticed this and commented upon it the other day when walking through the Ringling Museum.  I must have been greeted, encouraged to have "A Nice Day" maybe ten, fifteen times during my walk through the institution.  I do not want to interact with persons unknown to me in settings where personal contact is uncalled for.  I was raised to be polite, but I am by nature someone who is psyched up by human contact, and if while out shopping or worse while examining art works, I have to summon the psychic resources to "be nice" out loud, then I am overextended, maybe even being bullied.  The incessant pursuit of the customer in the matter of niceness comes in the constant emails one receives after any restaurant outing in which one is supposed to rate the experience.  And the rating system is checking boxes in a one to ten series of evaluations that tell nothing.  If something was awful enough to warrant remarking on it I would tell the manager when I was in the restaurant, for god's sake.  The other day a friend and I were the only two dining out of doors at a restaurant and the waitress who served us never came back so finally I took my cell phone to call the maitre d' at the desk inside to summon service outdoors.  And I complained, right then and there.  No need to wait around to fill out a chart of numbers!  I will not fill out the emailed evaluation forms because I consider them nonsense.  So they send more.  I once wrote to some outfit whose website allowed for "contact us," complaining of the form evaluations.  Never got a response.  A lot they care about customer satisfaction.