One time (pre-Covid) I had a male customer tell me and a coworker a joke. She laughed and I didn’t react much. It wasn’t all that funny and I was too tired to fake a reaction. He looked at me and said, “It’s a joke. You should smile more.” I had to force a smile to hide my frustration.

The times I’ve fake laughed and been in “customer service mode”, I’ve been asked out and uncomfortably flirted with. I was stalked by one guy when he couldn’t take no for an answer. The worst part is being stuck in the store and having no place to go, so you have to hide until they leave.

Unfortunately in customer service, you can’t really win.