Customer Service 2 - Awkward Silence

I had written a rant about customer service previously so I thought I would write a bit more about it. This post isn't a rant, but more an observation.

I had poured some petrol into my car and had gone into the store to pay for it the other day. As usual, I took out my credit car and gave it to the attendant and said "credit". This is where the awkward silence occurred. As he swiped my car and pressed ok, we both stood there in silence and waited for the machine to process the transcation and clear it. The period of time, as we both knew, would only be about 10 seconds, not enough time to really start a conversation as I would be out of there soon. So we both just stood there, not knowing where to look and waited. He passed me the pen and I just held it and waited uncomfortably.

This situation gets repeated in all places now. It happened at the supermarket, the shopping centres and even food outlets. In the past, when you would pay cash, the service staff would go off to the till and get your change while you stood there and waited. Now, they didn't have anything to do so stood there with you and waited, creating this awkward silent moment between the two of you.

Have you experienced a similar thing, or is it all in my own mind. I think it isn't because I can sense it from the other person that they're are uncomfortable as well as they look away and don't really know what to do. This happens more with younger service staff. The older middle aged ladies tend to just look right at you and smile, which I guess diffuses the awkwardness.