Are Americans too polite?

Yes, you read correctly. I didn't know about this either until after moving. Apparently, Americans' expressions of politeness are downright sickening to our overseas English-speaking friends.

Scenario in America:
You enter a store. You are greeted shortly by a staff member who asks if you need help finding anything. You say 'no, just browsing.' The person leaves you to your devices and you find what you're looking for. You go to pay and the person at the register asks if you found everything okay. You say 'yes.' You pay, thank the person, the person thanks you and wishes you a nice day. You leave.

Scenario in Ireland:
You enter a store. Security guard either sitting next to the door or within two feet of it. You browse for what you're looking for. You can't find it, but figure it must be there somewhere, so you look for a helpful staff member. You see three girls with store nametags on ranting in a corner by the cash register, pretending not to see you. You interrupt them, they point in the direction of where you're supposed to find the item and go back to their chat. You decide to buy something and go up to the register. You pay for the item, at which point it is customary for you to say 'thank you' while handing over your hard-earned cash. The cashier hands you any change, says 'thanks' and that's it.

Analysis
So, apparently people not used to the American ethic of customer service find it overbearing to have someone greet you and offer their help. Americans are also teased endlessly for the expression 'have a nice day,' with accusations of gross insincerity. I can see this to a point. I mean, we've all been in stores ready to shoot the sunny-faced people who nearly stalk you while you browse. This always seems to be the case, too, when you're only killing time somewhere. But what happens when you DO need someone? Assistance is rarely found during a shopping trip over here. The ironic thing is that wages for working in a shop are higher here than in America. In fact, minimum wage here is right around 8 euro/hour. Perhaps retail workers here don't have those pesky sales goals, coupled with silly incentive games for motivating employees like they do in America.

Now to the 'have a nice day' issue. Anyone in Britain or Ireland wishing to poke fun at Americans will quickly make reference to this phrase as if it were a national flaw in character. I've caught myself at times telling clerks in shops to have a nice day as I'm leaving after buying something. You can only imagine the strange looks I get. Yes, truly, this is an Americanism. But I honestly had no idea. I mean, how criminal can it be to wish someone a nice day? Apparently as American stereotypes go, this is right up there, fitting the loud and cheesy personality profile that Americans are so famous for. But I challenge that this perceived insincerity is unique to Americans. To me, a parallel is the phrase 'thanks a million.' This phrase is uttered in any and all situations over here - from anything as mundane as buying chewing gum to more deserving scenarios like borrowing large sums of money. I don't really thank these people 'a million' any more than they think I hope they have a nice day.

Did you ever think that politeness was an American downfall? Too bad this sugary sweet side of American culture doesn't trickle into more dramatic examples of foreign policy, but I digress....