It is a very long time since I visited a supermarket and have never heard of a supermarket employee who you describe as 'a smile on a stick'.
I can't see the purpose of wielding a stick.
Could it be that using a finger to point to a usable till is not acceptable?
To be armed with a stick seems to be a self defence weapon at the ready, which might be useful since their actions seem designed to provoke hostility.
Have supermarkets degenerated into hostile places where psychological battles are waged with the shoppers
