Naked:
In the late 60s I worked part-time in a hardware store/lumberyard for $1.00 an hour, loading dimension lumber in customer vehicles, mixing custom paint colors, weighing out nails, and helping customers find screws, etc.
The store owner had high expectations, and first among them was "Treat the customer with respect." Failure to do so resulted in a dressing-down or termination for repeaters.
Today, "associates" can do all the team-building exercises and singalongs that are required of them, but I fail to see why being polite and respectful cannot be expected also.
Waiting on the public is tough, and my heart goes out to those that work convenience stores because the pay is minimum around here, lower than your $7. Having waited on the public as the lumber yard gofer, a waiter in a suburban Pittsburgh restaurant, a cabbie, and a hash slinger in the university cafeteria, it is out of respect for a clerk that I take up the issue with him or her, and not run to the supervisor. There's a high school senior at the local McD's that is famous in town for being a "cute" and a smartass. He went too far one time and crossed the line, got the speech, and has been extremely polite and respectful since, and a co-worker of his that lives up the street told me the kid's toned it down with everyone.
Noah