The flip side of this: empty enthusiastic expressions for completely banal interactions.
"Here is your coffee"
"Thank you sooo much, I really appreciate it"
I wonder if this is because no one can see smiles anymore, so people feel like they have to "smile" with their words.
I have a friend who does this, and has done since before the pandemic. He is so overly enthusiastic about everything that I feel like I have no idea what his actual opinions are. It's way, way too over the top. The end result is that I barely trust him because it feels like he's being fake all the time.
Heh, there's a sales guy at our company who is simply over the top about
everything. He's a great guy, and fantastic at his job, but totally intense about everything, from the product we sell to the food he eats to the way he ties his shoes*. He is the epitome of a gregarious salesman. Me? I'm an engineer, and pretty low key, and his demeanor feels like sandpaper on my eardrums.**
*ok, might be exaggerating on that last part. A bit.
** I fully acknowledge that this is a failing in my character, not his, and I don't hold it against him. I find it fascinating that I have such a visceral reaction to his comportment.