The person behind the counter may have heard the same joke all morning.

What feels spontaneous to you can be the tenth time someone has fielded it since opening. Service work involves absorbing a great deal of repeated friendliness, and the effort of receiving it well is invisible labour. None of this makes your good mood wrong. It just means the surest way to be pleasant is often to be brief, clear and genuinely interested rather than entertaining.

Next time you are at a counter, try asking how their morning is going and then actually listening to the answer. Say thanks by name if there is a badge. It costs a moment and lands differently from a routine.