In 1998 the supermarket chain Safeway enforced a program called “Superior Service.” It “requires all employees to smile, greet and make eye contact with every customer who walks in.” Workers were expected to smile, make eye contact, and be cheerful and courteous. Undercover shoppers checked on them. Poor evaluations could bring “remedial training, disciplinary letters and termination.” About 100 employees attended a one-day role-playing class.
In August 1998, 12 women told Safeway executives that the rule drew unwanted attention from male customers. A produce clerk, Richelle Roberts, said: “Let me decide who I am going to say hello to with a big smile.” A Safeway spokeswoman, Debra Lambert, told another paper that the company was “not asking an employee to smile in a certain way.”