The rules of going out to eat are pretty simple. You tip the acceptable amount and try to be as pleasant as possible to the people serving you. Even the most antisocial of us should be able to attempt this, but following these guidelines is not something that everybody is willing to do.

A server recently took to Twitter to highlight the issue, griping about all the customers she dealt with who refused to engage in minor small talk. Revealing that she had had to deal with a lot of people who refused to respond to a simple «how are you», the conversation surrounding her tweet was not as uncontroversial as we might expect. 

While some sympathized with her complaint, others took this as a sign that she was being deliberately exclusionary. Some didn’t even seem to realize that she was talking about customer service. What followed was a debate both heated and dumb. Most of us are fully capable of extending basic kindness, even if we do have our issues.