For the first one, I start talking about the weather (can you believe this rain/sun/wind?) or rambling about whatever neutral topic comes to mind (the grocery store across the street is really busy today!), or I talk about whatever new drinks we have (and ask if they’ve tried it [this way] or [that way]), or about my pets (and ask about theirs), or local events (have you heard about…? have you been to…?) etc

For rude customers, I just go “ok :)” and then forget it ever happened next time they come around (if ever). If they bring it up, just apologise or offer them a recovery card if they don’t want to hear explanations. They’re not worth spending much mental energy on in the grand scheme of things.

I usually ask what they are up too that day, there’s a couple responses I usually get

if they say work I ask what they do and either say that’s tough work good job or that sounds fun, i then usually make a joke about how they will need a little extra caffeine for that.

If they say nothing, I say it’s a lovely day to have nothing to do, then I comment on the weather.
If they say chores or list stores I just make small talk about that usually lying about how much I love certain things.

My stores DT time isn’t bad so I usually don’t say more but if I need to I will ask if they need anything like straws, condiments, napkins etc, explain why we are backed up in a casual way so they take a little pity on you (ex, “our ovens are a little backed up this morning we are training a new partner” or “it is packed in here this morning we will have your drink asap”) or I will literally talk about the weather like an old person.

If the person clearly doesn’t want to talk there is also nothing wrong with just not engaging but always try a few times first with some prompts and they may change their mind. If not don’t worry about it too much.

Sorry for such a long answer but good luck hun!