Living in one's own world

Twice, in the past four days, someone has remarked to me about someone else wearing headphones/ear buds all the time, thereby cutting themselves off from communication with the world. The person who brought it up on Friday was doing a full on grumpy-old-man thing, and I knew that he had no clue that he was bringing up a choice that I made regarding my time and personal space. For the other person, I thought that she would understand but, she is generally a nice person and willing to engage anyone at any time, so...maybe she looks at the world differently.

Why do I often have headphones on, even while someplace public?

Well...

The answer is two-fold:

1) I do not like people. At least when I want to be alone, by myself, even at a coffee shop or on a bar patio enjoying the sun. It is better to listen to my own music and concentrate on my own things rather than attempting to engage when I do not want to.

2) I don't want to hear you talk about your lives. This comes from my belief that most of you are awful. You talk about awful and banal things, gossip about people who do not deserve it, and frankly, irritate the sh*t out of me. Wait, hear me out. I know that you think the same about me and my friends. That's fine. We deserve it. (at least from your perspective)

When I am sitting by myself, I do not want to be bothered by you at all, and I do not want to bother you. I want to sit, read my book (which is better than whatever you are reading), and listen to my music (which is better than what you are listening to), and not hear your opinions on things like politics, sports, or current events. I want to sit, eat & drink, and tune out the world, because the world sucks...a lot.

So, do not hate me for listening to my music at the expense of interacting with you...I am saving you from my general misanthropy and protecting myself from your vapidity and inanity.

EDIT: Oh, the irony! The person who inspired the post just e-mailed me and told me that she was putting in her ear buds to ignore the world. Hah!