I spent 11 years in America. If I never have to deal with another 'friendly' cashier, it will be too soon for me. Every single time I went to buy groceries or pay something, I had to be asked how I was, if there was anything more than they could do for me, etc.

The 'friendliness' drove me nuts. I do not want to have to interrupt my thoughts to talk to someone who is there to ring up my bill and get it over and done with as fast as possible. It slows down the service and it forces me to interact with someone I don't want to speak to.

There were other things in the State that drove me nuts. Constantly been asked which country I came from (Australians, the Brits, New Zealands instantly recognize the accent). More to the point, they seem obsessed with confusing nationality with extraction.

One might be of German extraction, but one most certainly is not German because two centuries ago, one's forefathers were German.