It is a phrase that you hear almost as soon as you enter the United States. "Have a nice day." Perhaps not absolutely immediatley- not from the eagle-eyed scrutineers and furrowed brows at the immigration desk, not from the dog-handlers in the customs area beyond.

But it is there, certainly, once you step beyond the airport. In shops, restaurants, in cafe's, It sings to you as you leave a building, provides a full-stop to even the shortest of exchanges with the most random of total strangers. It makes you wonder why are Americans so polite? And do they actually mean what they say? 

It is inaccurate to say that every American you meet will wave you on your way with these four cheery syllabuls. Although they're are plently who almost certainly wont. The irriated cab drivers in Downtown Los Angeles, the too-cool-for chatter Brooklyn guy or the Manhattan commuter on the crowded Train.

In many cases, positivity and politeness are default American settings, as ingrained in the national psyche as Superbowl Sunday.

But is it real? Ofcourse not, in restaurants and shops it is designed to cultivate a temporary goodwill that will ultimately lead you to making a large additional payment on top of the cost of your food. The tipping culture of the USA needs no introduction here. 

And it works- particularly on tourists who most find tipping in the USA complex and confusing; a tangle conversation built on nervous chatter that abunduntly turns them into apologetic beings that feel the need to tip more. 

However, being nice is not all about the stretch of their pay check, many other Americans such as the cashier at the supermarket teller, the doorman who so nicely greets people, there is no need for them to beam "have a nice day" so why do they bother?

Perhaps because it is part of the US. It is difficult to pin down the exact genesis of the phrase, but it has certainly been apart of the American conversation vocabulary for quite some time. There is a sugesstion it has been picked up from truck drivers who were signing off radios in the same area. Again, it is tricky to pinpoint the exact recorded use of "have a nice day" , but you will most certainly encounter it when in the US.

Maybe it is not that Americans have an intrinsic politeness, but we have forgotten our own.