I just remember the idea being an absolute joke considering I always had several other things that I was responsible for simultaneously. Can’t connect with customers and keep drive times as low as expected, gotta pick one or the other.

Edit: if we had the proper resources and support to do so, I would love customer connection. It just wasn’t feasible

I say hello, good morning, how are you, welcome, etc. and consider that enough. If they engage first, sure, I can carry a conversation. But I'm not about to awkwardly force smalltalk and make customers uncomfortable just for some out of touch metric.

Does anyone REALLY want a cashier to "try to get to know them" specifically because their boss commanded it?

I try my best but im just awkward or shy sometimes