(no subject)
There ought to be a polite way to tell people that you are in a bad mood and don't feel like dealing with chit chat and niceties. I'm not saying having a bad day is a reason to be rude and hostile to people - but there ought to be a little sticker or something a person can wear from time to time that would exempt them from talking to others unless said others had actual relevant info. to impart. Just something that would let you skip over things like "Hi. How are you?" (because they don't really want to know that you had a car accident this morning, or your grandmother's in the hospital, or you woke up late and spilled coffee all over your favorite blouse and then had to sit next to a crazy man on the bus for 1/2 an hour, while it poured down rain outside), or "Good morning" (because it's not). Such a thing would definately have the power to ward off well-meaning strangers as well. It would shout out to them "I don't care if my shoelace is untied!" and "I don't care if you think I'm hot! I don't feel hot!" and "No! I definately can't spare some change!" If such a device existed, I bet it would cut down on rudeness a bit, because then people would know in advance that you really don't want to talk to anyone - it isn't personal, and the 10th person to approach you with some chatty little comment wouldn't be the 10th person and therefore wouldn't get such a disgruntled response.