there's no excuse - i'm NOT the one who is wrong here! i frequent west indian restaurants b/c i happen to love their food. its a common courtesy to return a gesture...more so if i'm contributing to the growth of ur business!!!
by the way, i do smile when i say hello - i don't 'pause', waiting to see what they say. i have noticed that my greeting is not acknowledged and on top of that, they're rude in their interaction thereafter.
ex: the other day i went to a place said hello, yada, yada, yada...i asked the woman if she had any salt fish left from the morning...she totally ignored me, went about her business... i waited for about 2 minutes for her to come back to the counter and then asked 'excuse me, did u hear me?' she said 'no, we don't have salt fish'!!!! that made me really upset b/c i'm in this place constantly for breakfast & lunch!!! anyway, she was an older woman - 50/60? so i didn't want to respond the way i was feeling.
i feel like if i'm not rude to u, u shouldn't be rude to me! its a very simple concept!
thanks for letting me vent, imix! :