* Shop clerks will invariably greet you with "hello sir, how are you?" which will eventually drive you mad.
* Those same clerks will be extremely helpful whenever it's in their power to be helpful, but they will never ever take any initiatives that require them to cross boundaries to other people's job descriptions, especially someone higher up in the hierarchy.
* And the hierarchies are everywhere.
I know what you mean. I went to a gas station store with a question about the air pump, but the clerk was entirely unhelpful because the pump belonged to the garage which was closed. Finally, I asked if he had the number to the garage (two feet away, attached to the store, mind you), and he said he didn't know, to look it up in a phone book.
I walked outside and the number was on the garage door. HOW he did not have that on him, or at least know it was there, I have no idea. What if there was a fire or a crime or something...they OUGHT to be able to contact each other
somehow...
Yes everything is increasingly specialised and bureaucratic. Just try and do some official business on the telephone.