You can very briefly and politely say to them that you don’t wish for small talk, or you can tell someone who isn’t on your team to not engage you in conversation because you want to focus during work.

Being direct is better than looking away, walking away, and pretending to be busy whenever they come around you. That has the potential for real hurt.

What if everywhere you walked in, everywhere you worked at, you got that sort of reaction from others. Masking or not masking. Whether you are being yourself or being somebody you’re not to please others? Have you ever experienced that?

Can you even imagine how isolating that must feel?