The Devil's Advocate

64

Fake sincerity

‘Have a nice day,’ intones the slack-jawed teenager as they slide over your Mega Burger. ‘Iseverythingalrightwithyourmeal?’ mumbles the stressed waitress as you chew your first mouthful.

Of all the creeping Americanisations of our culture, the enforced chumminess of ‘customer-service’ staff is surely the most reviled. We Brits don’t want waiters to be our friends. We just want no-nonsense impersonal service.

Only it appears we don’t.

I travel a lot for work, and whenever I go into a Prêt A Manger, I’m touched by the casual and solicitous way the staff engage me in a bit of banter or ask how my day is. And as they say, once you can fake sincerity, you’ve got it made.

But it doesn’t happen by accident. Pret spend almost £10 ...