Now that you mention it about shops, that's something I had actually not really thought of. I used to work in a shop (the only job I held down in this country for any length of time) and part of our training was to 'interact with every customer'. We were told to always welcome customers and ask them 'open questions', meaning a question which could not be replied to with yes or no. I hated that, I usually tried to avoid customers unless I had no choice. I got into several rows with my boss about my behaviour at work because I would intentionally ignore customers walking into the shop instead of approaching them.

On the flip side (with me as a customer going into a shop), I am actually very put off by staff approaching me and asking me questions about my visit to the shop. This was very difficult for me in the last few months with Christmas shopping as the stores were very busy so I was already uncomfortable and then they added to it by 'attacking' me as soon as I walked in the door. In the end I bought only one item in a shop this year and the rest of my shopping was done online.

You know, it's funny you mention that you prefer to speak with the opposite sex. I too feel that way! If I'm left alone in a room with a person I don't know very well, I would prefer them to be female than male. For some reason I always feel more comfortable speaking with females than I do males. If I know the male well enough, it's not an issue, but with people I don't know very well males always make me feel more uncomfortable.