I hated working retail. I think mostly because people are morons and they always let you down. Actually, that's probably not the real reason, but it was still kind of horrible. We were in a strip mall so we didn't get many shoppers. It was definitely one of those places were people liked to come in and talk though. Sadly, that was never one of my strong points!
I think customers in Australia and the US "were" different back then. Perhaps part of it is that you have a culture that works for tips (in some industries), Australia doesn't. I think that changes customer behavior overall.
I wish that was the case here. I am suffering tip fatigue bad. Our issue had to do with not being in a mall. People were just walking around looking to spend money. They were coming in to get a specific part and then leaving. They didn't want to be up sold or offered anything beyond that.
tip fatigue - That is likely something that can be officially diagnosed these days!