Do you greet the gas station clerk before ordering?

Odd question.

Sometimes yes, other times no. It depends mainly upon how busy he is.

If you're friendly.

I do.

Usually we look at each other and say something, a mix of routine and friendly.
The person will be dealing with just me, or a line of people, so attention varies.

Re a greeting? I tend to sort of smile.

Yeah, if there's a line, just the business. If not then a "hello" or even small talk.

He's also assuming that every gas station in the US doesn't allow the consumer to pay by credit card or debit at the actual pump. Making the whole greetings question moot.

I learned a long time ago the value of making a habit of connecting with the people I encounter in such brief transactions in daily life ( The checkout counter in stores and at gas stations (tho credit card readers on gas pumps make those encounters less frequent).

I realized in leadership positions in the military and later some in business that if this was not an ingrained habit it would not be there for me in the, far more frequent but often brief and passing, encounters I had with the folks who worked for me. Self absorption and remoteness, even if only occasional, are usually damaging to a leader's effectiveness, and as I developed the habit I learned that I could learn a great deal in such encounters about the temper of various parts of the organization and the effects, good and bad of policies and initiatives I had made, including the assignments of group leaders.

Finally I find the practive uplifting on a personal basis.

I paid inside, x amount of money. I tended to like the clerks. I didn't need a whale of a lot of gas.

exactly

I don't know when the last time was that I went inside to pay
debit card goes in, lift handle, activate pump
put dispenser thingie back on rack
hit button
receipt comes out (with coupons)
I leave

A bit off topic, but around here I only hope for the card to process and the machine to spit out a receipt. Sometimes they aren't accepting the card at the pump, sometimes they won't give a receipt. Sometimes, you have to make two trips into the station.

Credit card skimmers have become a big problem around here and that's why I go in and greet the clerk. If I'm lucky and they're Honduran I'll get to practice a little Spanish.



"The above picture is a real-life skimmer in use on an ATM. You can see how the arrows are very close to the reader. That is a sign a skimmer was installed over the existing one, since the real card reader would have some space before the arrows."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2469560,00.asp

Absolutely.