Interesting, I’ve always had the opposite problem - whatever I say they cut way too much off the top. Perhaps we should go together and order each other’s cuts?

I’m not sure I have anything helpful to say other than to suggest keep trying different places until you find one that listens?

This. Especially driving out of carparks.

There’s a small number of surprisingly aggressive and unhelpful responses here. People are different and the world, especially the workplace, is made by extroverts and that can be difficult for those of us that are more introverted.

In an ideal world your colleagues would be mindful of that but unfortunately that’s often not the case (and of course extroverts often don’t engage in a whole lot of self reflection).

You’re going to have to put up with a bit of annoying small talk. Try to find something that’s a compromise you can live with. After that I’d say being polite but direct is best… nice chatting but I need to get back to work. No further elaboration is required.

You can also try telling some people that you’re not a big chatter or something and that you like to just get on with work. See how that goes, people are often more understanding than you would expect.

(I should say I live in the UK and work in a technical industry so YMMV).

You probably don’t even need to remember much. Just asking how the kids are is enough, anything more specific than that is just a bonus.

This is good advice. Headphones can also work on another level as a signal that you’re getting stuff done and don’t want to be disturbed. Not all my colleagues get that but perhaps 9/10 do.

What are you using instead of Google Photos?

I’m the other way round, email was the first thing I degoogled. It’s Photos I don’t know how to replace.