I'm not complaining about learning a language. I'm simply stating that I have had a much better tool that can help me - which covers more than a wordbook could and is faster and means that I wasn't carrying around a book. Merely a phone/watch/communication device.

I'll add that not everyone needs to learn a language to make use of wordbooks and translation apps. Vacations exist. Temporary work assignments exist, the sort of which are much shorter than the time it would take to learn a language to even an intermediate level. Heck, my required language classes lasted 2 years at 18 hours a week of classroom time, which is definitely longer than work assignments.

And no, forced pleasantries at a gas station doesn't make people friendly. Plus it is labor for the cashier. I shouldn't be shamed for not paying attention to everyone on a bus and listening to music instead. This stuff isn't people being nice, it is people doing obligatory thing. A heart-felt thanks isn't the same as the one your mother made you say - greater society is similar. And I'll add that it isn't really making society pleasant: That sort of smalltalk isn't universal. I moved from the US Midwest to Norway, which really hasn't expected folks to chat up cashiers or talk to strangers on the bus. Society here isn't unpleasant, though.

If I'm going for a two weeks vacation and know I will never return - is it a reason to learn that country's language, further than hello/thank you/bye?

I think so, yes. There are tons of benefits to learning other languages even if you never travel at all. Traveling is a great opportunity to start picking up a new one.

It also demonstrates respect for people of the country you're traveling to.

There is no reason to learn the language of every country you visit for a short vacation, though. You'll do just as well learning a something convenient in your own country. In the US, this would usually mean Spanish.