How to get rid of annoying people:

Years ago, a guy contacted me on a dating site. I was not interested in meeting him, but he saw me in a Walmart not long after and recognized me. He "engaged" me in conversation and did so every time he saw me in a store. It didn't matter if I were edging away or said, "I need to go now," he thought that I was interested in details of his life.

I saw him soon after the pandemic began, when masks had become mandatory in my town. It was in the produce department at Walmart and he greeted me, maskless, with a huge smile on his face and a spritely, "Hey, Gwen!" I asked him why he was not wearing a mask and he told me that he "couldn't breathe" with it on.

I was not polite in my response and walked away while he yelled after me, "But I can't breathe!"

I saw him in Lowe's the other day and though I know he saw me, too, he made no eye contact and walked on. Later in the day, I saw him again at Walmart. I know he saw me then, too, but he walked right by me without eye contact or a greeting.

I won't say that any "good" things came out of the pandemic, but hey, I doubt that I will be annoyed by him again.