I got similar experiences previously - when I proactively chatted with the crew, they would mention manpower shortage and ask if I could help them write feedback. I'm always happy to help as long as I have time onboard.

Well, I don't agree with the first post above saying that there is sufficient manpower onboard solely because the purser has time to chat with a passenger... That only happens after meal service. When you compare the meal service these days from that the pre-covid days, you should find out that meal service is just SUPER SLOW after they have "revamped" the meal service flow (i.e. by-hand delivery of trays instead of trolley-style service + moving SP to Economy Class). I was once on an HKG ICN flight in JCL that was fully loaded, and the crew just didn't have time to respond to my call bell during the meal service.

Frankly speaking, if they were still implementing the trolley-style service, manpower shortage would not be a thing; but now, they are trying to deliver a more "premium" service by serving meals by hand, they just don't have enough manpower with the crew: pax ratio being ~1:10...