One of the biggest culture shocks when shopping in the United States after being in Hong Kong was that sales assistants always seemed concerned for me. Sales assistant: 'Good morning/afternoon/evening. How are you?' Customer: (regardless of real mood) 'Fine. And you?' Sales assistant: 'Great!' Bill totalled and paid for. Sales assistant: 'Have a good one/nice day!' Customer: 'Thanks, you too.' This interaction happens literally millions of times a day across the US. There is little or no sincerity in it. It is an automatic interaction, a social rule. Do we simply mouth the words, or is it a sign of a civilised society? Should we be concerned about the welfare of others in our community? We might not lose sleep over it, but shouldn't it at least cross our minds? Unfortunately, social rules predetermine the answer to 'how are you?'. A negative answer to the question posed by a stranger is looked down upon, and to go into detail about about one's personal problems is an even greater social blunder. That is what is nice about oft-criticised Hong Kong sales assistants. They don't waste time with insincere formalities. We accept that when we enter a shop, we establish a purely functional relationship with the sales assistants. We do not pretend that it is anything more meaningful than that. Ateesh is a Young Post summer intern from Brown University, Rhode Island