What do you mean earphones are no longer a deterrent?

It's been something I've noticed for many years now; train journeys, walking down the street and waiting in queues, even if someone sees your headphones they still insist on speaking to you.  As a disclaimer I will say that my music isn't loud because I want to retain my hearing past the age of 50, and since I used to ride my bike everywhere I disliked being deaf to the numerous cars that wanted to flip me over their bonnet.

My Discussion will start with: are earphones ever really a deterrent to get people not to speak with you?  Haha, discussion.  With my many years of experience at being stopped in the street and asked for directions, for money, or for my poor opinion, wearing earphones has never, ever, ever worked.  It's like most people don't even notice I have them in; I was not born with a colourful wire draping fashionably from my ears!  I think the closest I've come to having them acknowledged was by one of the people on my course who apologised after realising I had them in after he asked me a question.  I get no such courtesy from the people on the street.

Now, why, I hear you ask, am I making such a fuss?  If you don't know by now you obviously haven't been reading this blog for very often.  I probably should have named it "how to be an open recluse in the 21st Century" or apparently "awkward moments of my life".  The origin of my anxiety comes from the fact that I am not a spontaneous person, I have to think about everything before I say it unless it comes out completely nonsensical.  You may think I'm exaggerating but only this morning I had to go down to the reception of my building to hand in three stray letters that had made their way into our mailbox and instead of saying:
"These letters don't belong to anyone in my flat."
"I said there is no one living with me with these names"
but I didn't get through the whole sentence so it was more like,
"There's no one with these names."
spectacularly untrue and not to mention sounds a bit like a murderer.  It also took me at least three attempts to get half the sentence out.  And the sole reason for this awkward repertoire is because if I don't think of what to say before I say it, I don't say anything reasonable at all.  Course introductions were the worst and as we were going through everyone, instead of listening to them I was formulating and practicing how to introduce myself.  That's right I have to think about saying;
"I'm Wren, I'm from Scotland and I studied Statistics".  It gets worse with presentations but more on that later in the year.

So when people stop me in the street or comment on something random, or about me, I literally mumble back, and that's on a good day, otherwise, which is most of the time, I smile and laugh.  They could be insulting me and I would just grin like an idiot and quicken my pace.

I am actually ok with directions, if I know where they're asking about, but otherwise you can forget it.

As for the most recent incident.  One Saturday morning (this morning actually) I was walking into Leicester city centre early to get breakfast, which I do every Saturday.  I was just walking, chilling, stomach rumbling hungrily, listening to my music, when this man sweeping up the leaves outside of a small hairdressers saw me and began to laugh.  He was just on the corner that I wanted to use and he spotted me from at least 8 metres away.  I will admit, my music was louder than usual and the only reason I know this is because when he did say something to me I couldn't hear a word he was saying.
It was quite cold this morning, especially at the time I go out at, so I was wearing my favourite scarf which has robins on it.  He spotted me and began to laugh, then kept taking regular glances in my direction no doubt to log my progressive walk to within hearing distance where he would then spout his well formulated comment about my pretty scarf.  Until my dying day I will never piece together what he said but the only words I heard were;
"....wearing...scarf......*laugh/creepy chuckle*"

There was this younger man/boy (I couldn't tell what age he was) leaning in the doorway and he also joined in whatever the older sweeping man said that was so funny.  I just did my usual and smiled awkwardly.

Running away is one thing, but folks, always make sure there is an alternative way back, which for me there wasn't.  I literally dreaded going past that corner on my way back from breakfast as I was buying the damn thing in the shop.  Needless to say I ran past that hairdressers.

Earphones.  They come in all shapes and sizes, and this meme I found perhaps explains a little better why people speak to me when I have mine in.

I do have the ones in the second window but they are reserved for the house since I'm not allowed speakers, nor do I want to share my alternative taste in music with my flatmates through the paper thin walls here.  Sometimes I think it's your facial expression, and from my Dad I'm told I go around with a "face as though I've been sucking lemons".

To be honest if I look as cute as that cat I don't blame people for stopping me.  But as it stands I'm pretty sure I look worse than this:

Perhaps that's just mine and my dad's perception because believe me, when I'm walking trough a large crowd of people, I'm not happy.  So why do strangers insist on stopping me and asking for directions, or feeling the need to talk to me as they see me passing by?

Perhaps I'm being too pessimistic and grumpy about this.  Humans are by nature social creatures, and even I get the occasional urge for some company, but how does talking to a stranger fulfil this need?  It just does sometimes; I understand that.  When I first moved into this flat I wasn't that homesick but I was full of foreboding and anxiety; how was I going to survive?  What if I made no new friends on my course?  Then the day after I arrived I was making dinner when one of my flatmates came in and we talked for a few hours and at the end I felt so much better.  Sometimes company is the best thing, and although I sit and type rants about awkward social interactions, I actually love the time I spend with my friends and I love that my life has these awkward moments that I can share for a few laughs with them.

I would like others to observe the wearing of the headphones as a sign that the person wearing them doesn't want to banter or talk to anyone except when they're buying things.  Unfortunately for those socially awkward people out there like me, I'm afraid that will never happen and we will just keep mumbling to strangers and smiling awkwardly having no idea what they're saying.  I suppose that's just life.