The way we get our food has become a solitary endeavor. You can go to the grocery store, get what you need on your own and use self-checkout. Or, you can get your food delivered without having to talk on the phone to order or interact with the delivery person.

In this post-COVID world, many restaurants have kept QR code menus, which often allow customers to place their orders online instead of with a waiter. At fast-casual restaurants like Panera Bread and Shake Shack, you can order through a digital kiosk. Some restaurants are even using robot waiters in place of people.

There’s no question that these advances in technology have made getting food more convenient. If you’re introverted or dislike interacting with others, going back in time a decade to when you had to talk to someone to order may sound like a nightmare.

But according to experts who study how interactions with strangers impact the human psyche, eliminating interactions with food service workers has a bigger effect — both at an individual level and a societal level — than many realize.

What We Gain From Interacting With Food Service Workers

Does the short back-and-forth you have with a cashier or waiter actually matter all that much? According to social psychologist Taylor Nicole West, it does. West recently led a study on the emotional impact of interacting with strangers and found that as long as it’s a positive experience for both people (which is called “positive resonance”), it can provide a psychological boost — even if you don’t realize it.

“You get a little mood boost in your day and can even feel energized by the interaction,” West said. But she emphasized that this only happens when the interactions are positive. A waiter who has a rude customer, for example, won’t benefit from the interaction.

While certainly a short back-and-forth can be a mood boost, West said both people simply being pleasant to each other is enough to benefit from the interaction. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be a full-fledged conversation. It can just be about the brief acknowledgement that the other person exists,” she explained.

Just like how a barista forgetting to put in your order can feel like a slight, a short, positive interaction can feel validating. West added that both introverts and extroverts experience a psychological mood boost from interacting with strangers (again, as long as it’s a positive experience for both people).

These brief interactions don’t just benefit customers; food service workers benefit from them, too. But they also can benefit from advances in technology, which often make their jobs easier.

“Both in-person and ‘order ahead’ have their pros and cons,” said Heather Perry, the CEO of Klatch Coffee, a family-owned coffee company with 12 locations in California. She told HuffPost that when customers order ahead online, it’s more time-efficient and leads to fewer errors. “For example, in a cafe environment, a cashier might misspell a customer’s name. Virtual orders reduce this type of error to zero,” she said.

But Perry said she wouldn’t want in-person ordering to ever go away completely. “Face-to-face customer interactions are an important part of what we do,” she said.

Phil Kim, the founder of gelato and sorbetto brand Aurelia, which has locations in New York City, told HuffPost that interacting with customers is his favorite part of his job. He added that one big challenge to his business is making digital ordering more personal. “A huge part of Aurelia’s customer experience is education about our flavors and the cultural significance behind them. It’s harder to do with virtual orders, but we try to share our stories through our product and presentation,” he said.

Say you become a regular at a cafe or bar and you interact with the same person every time you go. This type of acquaintance relationship is called a “weak tie.” It’s less emotionally intense than relationships with friends and family members (known as “strong ties”).

Sociologist Jack Lam, who has studied how interactions with others impact mental health, told HuffPost that everyone can benefit from weak tie relationships — including people who have a lot of strong tie relationships. “People who already have other relationships may benefit from weak ties because it may bring about opportunities to engage with different people who can offer a variety of perspectives and interactions,” he said.

Lam explained that interacting with cashiers, waiters, food delivery people and others in the food space allows for chances to interact with people outside their bubble, i.e., people who aren’t like them.

“We should really consider how valuable weak ties are, especially in terms of broadening our networks,” he said. “Over time and as we get older, our networks become smaller and more homogenous. When we think of strong ties, they’re probably family members or work colleagues who are more similar to us than not. We should try and think of opportunities to develop weak ties. Weak ties can provide access to new information or novel resources, provide a fresh perspective on things, or just for a chat and companionship.”

West said this too and believes micro-interactions with strangers are important for healthy communities. “Instead of being isolated in your bubble of close relationships, [interacting with food service workers] is a way to connect to the broader human experience,” she said, adding that she is currently working on a study to see how these types of interactions help build trust within communities.

“The less we interact with others, the more likely we are to lose a sense of community and the less safe we may feel,” she said.

The Best Way Forward

With all this in mind, does it mean you should never use self-checkout or take advantage of Seamless? Not necessarily.

West emphasized that it isn’t the number of micro-interactions someone has that matters, it’s the quality of them. That means if you already had a couple of pleasurable back-and-forths with strangers or acquaintances that day, your mental health isn’t going to suffer if you use a delivery app or self-checkout.

Technology in the food space is going to continue to advance and, as it does, Lam told HuffPost, there will be a greater importance on third places, which are familiar public spots you go to regularly to connect with others (that you know or don’t know) over a shared interest. This can be a favorite cafe, bookstore, library or gym, for example. “If you go to the same place over and over again, you’re likely to run into the same people. These people likely have the same interests as you, and can be a great starting point for developing weak ties,” he said.

If the thought of interacting with strangers fills you with anxiety, Lam shared that it’s important to remember you don’t need to have a full-on conversation with your waiter or barista. She said a lot can be gained by simply looking someone in the eye and thanking them. That acknowledgement that you both exist matters.

“People are often worried that they’ll be bothering someone if they start talking to them, but research doesn’t show that. Research shows that both parties benefit from the interaction, so don’t let worrying about how you will be perceived hinder you from talking to someone,” West said.

Even if the interaction with your waiter, barista or cashier only lasts a few seconds, it’s enough for both people to experience a small happiness boost. It’s not something an app or robot is able to recreate — at least not yet.