I too have the same problem that Phynerk has whilst shopping in Walmart(s). I like to do most of my shopping after midnight to avoid the many friends, former students, family members and overall freak who "seen you on TV." (Anyone else miss "Late night with the Hope JazzCats?) Luckily I take my trusty 3rd gen ipod with me and stick the ear buds in my ear, music loud enough to drown out the noisiest call for cleanup on aisle 4 and a look of complete lunacy on my face. These combined with my Marlee Matlin silent mouthing of "Hi" or "Hey" with a ridiculous exaggerated wave, usually dissuade the proverbial Walmart friend from stopping me for a chat. A little confession here, on more than one occasion I have worn the ear buds, sans the ipod, just to keep from having to interact with people! Geez, I really dislike people! Wait, that sounds bad. I really don't dislike ALL people. OK, yeah, I do dislike the majority of people.
manteca
