Barista gets reprimanded by manager for not giving a customer her phone number

There's this weird thing that happens in customer service where sometimes customers begin to misunderstand the relationship.

To be fair, in jobs like retail and service, you're expected to wear a smile and put on a bubbly persona—as if you wouldn't rather be doing anything else than making an aging dead-eyed finance bro his daily latte. People, usually those who have never had the pleasure of working one of these jobs, don't appreciate this performance for what it is and tend to mistake the fact that you're being kind to them because you have to—not because you have any real personal interest or investment in them.

And let's be more realistic here: it's not as if you don't enjoy bantering with regulars and building little relationships with them. However, even outside of the customer/servant dynamic of customer service exchanges, it's important to remember, in all areas of life, that no one owes you anything or is contracted to any more meaningful relationship with you just because they're being pleasant towards you. 

These interactions are an original everyday example of "parasocial relationships," as we now discuss them when it comes to celebrities and other public personas. Just because someone's performance stirs up thoughts and feelings within you doesn't mean that there's any possibility of those feelings being reciprocated. The act is a means to generate wealth—a marketing ploy.