Thanking Machines

There are rules for how we are supposed to feel in given situations, and rules for how we are supposed to express those feelings. We are taught as kids to say "please" and "thank you" independently of anything we might feel. It has become polite in general to claim feelings regardless of how one really feels on all sorts of occasions and impolite not to.
There is even a segment of the economy that thrives on it, its most well known business being Hallmark. Just because you send a "thinking of you" card, doesn't mean you're lying, though. In fact, it's impossible to send such a card without at least a moment's thinking, but there's something intervening between thought and action that neutralizes its emotional content. The neutralization could even be, in part, more polite than presuming on the relationship with the full force of feeling.
The corner bodega has a sign in the window that says it appreciates my patronage. It is hand drawn, its informality adding to its sincerity. A spelling mistake might have helped further, but there were none. The neutralization element spares both customer and owner the embarrassment of excessive intimacy. In the process, I, who have never gone in there, am invited to shop and be appreciated.