It's a funny little place. For some reason (the red? the desserts? the location?) I tend to find myself conflating it mentally with Dilettante's - which upon further thought is just strange. I like how it is just a touch shabby.
I realized with a bit of dismay yesterday while at the grocery store that I probably shan't see my favorite cashier anymore. It's a tiny thing, but there is always a touch more to our exchange than the rote pleasantries.
It's pretty subtle - which is fine, I always feel kind of strange at places where they obviously work to learn you and your name; it makes any bonhomie slightly suspect as viral marketing. This is more like "take care" instead of the "have a nice day" everyone else gets as a parting phrase. At first I just thought it was idiosyncratic phrasing - all the cashiers have little variations on their greeting patter - but after a few times I realized there was a difference when I was being addressed vs. other people in line before and after me. (I did say it was subtle...)
That's the sort of thing I was talking about before, about liking people who show evidence of paying attention. Alas that shopping on Capitol Hill is really pretty impractical when living in West Seattle, for groceries at least.