Before becoming a business (bike shop) owner, the world looked very different to me than it now does. Many reasons make that the case, but my focus here is particularly on how nothing I did really put me in regular and frequent contact with complete strangers. The perspective this position has given me is invaluable, and I hope the corresponding struggle will in the end bear fruit for not only me, but also others. In specific, I refer to the struggle of providing attention to what seems like the lonely in my community and region when I have an overwhelming amount of other things to do. In various publications I've read about such "emotional labor" in many fields, mostly service. If you don't think it's real, please trust me when I say it absolutely is.

Sometimes my business partner and I get the sense a person has entered our store only for the purpose of interacting with another human. Some customers say out loud that they shouldn't continue wasting our time, then stay and continue talking. Sometimes they say that multiple times in one visit throughout the course of an hour or more. Sometimes we have no clue what inspired whatever topic of which they speak.

In many ways I'm a pushover. That partner encourages me to avoid eye contact more. My life's development makes that difficult for me, though. I know loneliness has been a growing, global problem for decades, and I've suffered it through much of my life, as well - maybe I still always do.

So...I intend this thread as commiseration for others going through anything similar, but also as a request for advice. How might we make space for such people in our businesses in a way that doesn't lead to our business's slow death? Or how might we clearly communicate we don't have the time for it in a way that doesn't hurt them? I feel like I have much more important prompts here, but like I said in another thread, I'm feeling dumb and tired. Please, anyone, expand on this if you can.