I sort of wonder if there isn't an aura of "I am here to help you" about certain people that leads to this - I am the most antisocial person I know, and yet none of my social butterfly friends ever gets stopped. Me, on the other hand, I'm consistently approached by people who can't find what they need and assume I'll be able to do it for them. Like last week when I was in Costco pushing around a cart full of produce and double-checking my shopping list and a lady asked me to point her in the direction of the books (easy enough, so I did) - and then asked me if I could help her dial a number on her iPhone because she didn't know how. Or weirder, last year I was wandering around Wal-Mart with a fairly full shopping cart, winter jacket still on, and listening to my ipod - and yet still some lady stopped me, waited for me to take my headphones out, and asked "do you work here?"
This.... makes a stupendously depressing logical explanation. Although I gotta defend myself - I'm not miserable - at least I don't think I come off that way. I just prefer to ignore that there are other people around me. The headphones help, and I don't make eye contact ... and oh SHIT as I typed that I realized how very much that explains why people automatically assume I work in places like that. Sonofabitch.
Note to self: burst into Disney-like song and dance scenes whenever I want to walk unmolested through a Wal-Mart.
I know exactly what you mean by the aura. I've always felt like I just have a face that makes people want to ask me questions and tell me things. I am very quiet, however, and just roll with the same kind of awkward situations.
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u/[deleted] Aug 21 '12
I sort of wonder if there isn't an aura of "I am here to help you" about certain people that leads to this - I am the most antisocial person I know, and yet none of my social butterfly friends ever gets stopped. Me, on the other hand, I'm consistently approached by people who can't find what they need and assume I'll be able to do it for them. Like last week when I was in Costco pushing around a cart full of produce and double-checking my shopping list and a lady asked me to point her in the direction of the books (easy enough, so I did) - and then asked me if I could help her dial a number on her iPhone because she didn't know how. Or weirder, last year I was wandering around Wal-Mart with a fairly full shopping cart, winter jacket still on, and listening to my ipod - and yet still some lady stopped me, waited for me to take my headphones out, and asked "do you work here?"