Bad Manners and Brimstone

...but be assured that these pleasantries are normal and typical for a business interaction. I'll suggest that you think of them not as solely "social" pleasantries but as "human" pleasantries. When humans are talking, socially or professionally, these are reasonable interactions.

I don't disagree, but I don't think there is anything wrong or rude about NOT doing the social or "human" pleasantries. When I am working with someone I know, I actually care and may ask how they are, how their vacation was, whether their kid won the soccer tournament. For a one-time business interaction, it's just words, though, and not ACTUAL interest, so I prefer to not do that dance. I'm not rude, I just don't feel the need to prolong a simple business transaction with fluff that means nothing.

I've shared before about the person at the convenience store who INSISTED on calling after me over and over using my actual name, which he learned from my credit card. He didn't come across as being "pleasant." He came across as rude. I would have preferred he simply ring out my purchase so we both could go ahead with our days.