This question is mainly for those who live very different lives than those of their age groups, but anyone can answer.

Do you ever assume that people won't understand you or like you if they knew you, or that they would negatively judge you after comparing you to themselves & their "normal" lives? I do. My life is the absolute & total opposite of most people, especially those around my age. This world expects people to do certain things by a certain age & I fall well below any of those expectations. Because of that, I've been criticized by older people for not leading the kind of life their kids or grandkids lead or the kind of life they led when they were my age. When teenagers & people in their early 20's find out about the kind of life I live, they think I'm pathetic & lazy & also compare me to others my age, & that also goes for family members. My aunt & uncle compare me to my cousins, who are all within 5 years of my age, & who are all "normal" & are leading "normal" lives.

If people weren't so narrow-minded & if everyone wasn't expected to fit into a specific mold, I would feel a lot less uncomfortable around people. I would still have social anxiety, but I wouldn't worry so much when people talk to me because I wouldn't have to worry about their reactions to anything I say that they consider to be not normal for someone of my age (28).

Do you assume people won't like you if they knew about your life situation?
Does that make interacting with people even worse?
It does with me.

Don't know about the like part, some seem to have taken an interest in me from time to time, but it's never been mutual. I've never been interested in people IRL. Add to that that any social situation that required anything of me (like actually talking to people, not just a phony hi to the cashier) has always been very taxing for me. So getting worn out to accomplish being bored at worst, uninterested at best, isn't worth it.

I definitely expect them to judge and lack understanding. They always did, so I have no reason to expect them to be different now that I'm even more out of synch with my age group.

In addition there's no way they'd understand that different people have different needs.

Not really. It's only an issue if those particular topics are touched upon, and the PITA for me there isn't what they think of me, but having to go through all that "Yes, I really *do* feel that way" and "I really *am* that different", and "no, I'm not just saying it, I *mean* it" stuff once again. That crap had me worn out while I was still in early or mid elementary school.

I am quite sure most people would not like me or my lifestyle very much. I've never seen it as productive or right to compare by demographic. As Skilpadde rightfully said, everyone has their own needs in life and its unfair to do so. In my case, I've generally always been a little behind on things, but I am probably much further behind in "adult stuff" than others my age. I don't think my own family really understands me all that much, so I doubt anyone else would upon a first meeting. I am an eccentric person and it would take a special and odd person themselves in order to put up with me for any real length of time.

As a teenager about to hit college, I know my general lifestyle choice is greatly frowned upon by not just my parents, but my peers and anyone who manages to think of it. However, I've learned to interact when I have to and not give a damn whatever they think, because they ain't me and they ain't gonna live my life so they don't matter. The only people who matter are people who will be hiring me for a job if I get one, and I'm pretty sure whatever boss I have won't give a rat's arse if I don't leave the home outside working hours. So does it really, honestly, truly matter what my peers in general think? No. They never have, they never will. People who can't accept how I live a life that is unrelated to theirs can deal with it, since the only harm it can give a person is confusion.

EDIT: Did I really just use 'confusement' instead of 'confusion' ? /sigh

Perhaps some people, but if that's the case then i won't bother hiding it from them. If they're that judgemental, why would i want to be friends with them?

i just assume that people won't like me for me. they'd talk about how i have no freinds as an add on of a list of reasons not to like me in the way that others would say "oh yeah and she has such bad skin / clothes / etc." it makes interacting with people reduce into one lie of omission after another. for me whether or not i or the other people are living a normal life or are normal isn't a part of the equation.

I don't think it makes much of a difference. Even the people who don't know of my lifestyle still consider me strange and eccentric. People who don't know anything about me, even, I can tell don't think positively of me. I agree with Mask Identity in that people simply don't like me for me, not just because I'm reclusive.

Even if I was living a 'normal' life, I can't change my character, personality or interests which are constantly under negative judgement.