Fast, Efficient and Correct ... Still, Something is Missing

When I am working in New York City, I frequent a fairly large, 24/7, eatery and grocery for breakfast, and am utterly amazed by the speed and efficiency with which the place and its people operate. I place my order for an omelette at the grill, where the short-order cook appears to be juggling 15 other orders, and within 5 minutes I am presented with my to-go box. I get in line to pay behind 25 other people, and within 5 minutes I am at the register being handed a receipt while, simultaneously, the cashier is already raising her hand for the next person to approach. As I exit, I am struck by the army of people exiting with me (a veritable exodus, you might say), and the army of entering through the adjacent door. The whole thing is a satisfactory model of efficiency. A model that only requires a modicum of queuing theory knowledge to appreciate that, given the inflow of people, anything less would result in exceeding the 'fire code' threshold number of occupants. 

And yet, this model of efficiency still leaves something to be desired. 

It lacks a fundamental aspect of what you might encounter (at least, what I infer you might encounter) at a similar venue in Japan: delight, or, in Japanese, 'yorokobi' (I think). 

While I am duly impressed by the efficiency of the place, it is this very efficiency that gives me pause, as there is nary a smile, "hello", "how are you doing?" that comes your way as you are shuffled down the assembly line. I imagine that a type-A / Wall Street-type might actually be annoyed with salutations and rhetorical questions as they rush towards the rush, so I imagine that this is learned, if not imparted, behavior, which cannot be blamed on the establishment itself. It is, however, an interesting question to grapple with as we strive towards ever-greater efficiency: 

Where do we draw the line between efficiency (getting things done fast) and expediency (being efficient at the expense of other, important things). 

Should we optimize humanity subject to efficiency? 

Or should we optimize efficiency subject to humanity?