Well DiamondDan,
I felt the same way when i first got into the hobby. I still don't like crowds, people staring, unsolicited opinions, repeatedly getting questioned, being laughted at, having things thrown at me, pictures taken, etc.
If they ever invent invisible detecting wear, you, i, and a heck of alot of others will be first ones in line!
But untill then we just have to find ways to deal with our fellow, non-detecting, mankind's (sometimes rude) intrusions into our world.
Wearing headphones i can ignore people, i hear them but they don't have to know that.
Usually humor helps to fend off their unwanted attention & questions:
"did you find my diamond ring?"
...me, "Was it out of the gum machine?"
I take the time to answer questions from what i feel are truley interested people (even tho i don't want to), because you maybe encouraging a new detectorist.
I also talk to police, never know when you may need them!
Each of us, because we are different and the situations will vary have to invent ways to deal with the situations and people we run across.
I try to stay positive but sometimes it doesn't work. At the beach a man kept throwing pennies at me till finally I yelled over to him "Stop being such a cheapskate, throw hundred dollar bills!!". He stopped
If he had not i would have told him i will file "assault & battery" charges.
I think one of my turning points came while detecting a city playground at dusk.
I was alone untill a guy with a shot gun held across in front of him started across the grass towards me. I'm thinking; "can't out run a bullet!" i was fully prepared to wrap my detector around his head if it came to that.
Since he wasn't pointing the gun at me i waited to see what he wanted, and i got a little angry, cause i had every right to be there and my detecting time is limited.
Seems they have trouble with drug deals there. We had a brief conversation then i left, only because it had gotten dark.
The older i get the more i stand up for myself, cause i'm tired of being walked on and i could careless what people think of me.
The only opinion of me that matters, is my own...and i like me!
Some of us are not people persons, i'm not. I have found ways to get along with most, but not all. I try hard to stay off the general publics radar, but if i can't i'm going to detect anyhow, because its for "me".
Don't give up, you will find a way. Happy hunting!
Forgot to mention, i must dress like a bag lady, i had a wonan, who doesn't speak english, chase me down and give me a quarter, i tried to give it back but she refused. Who am i to deny her, her good deed. I kept it.
