I'll add my sympathy for the bad experiences -- I've had a few as well, and I've encountered some gun-shy CMs who expected me to be "one of THEM." They are pleasantly surprised when I'm polite, smiling, and make actual eye contact instead of staring at or yanking on their lanyards. It is astonishing how people behave sometimes.

In regards to wearing pins you don't wish to trade on a lanyard... Inasmuch as there is an "official pin trading" etiquette, culture, or process, good pin traders (by which I specifically mean people who are NOT hawks, sharks, or just rude) most often tend to follow the same rules the CMs follow. That is, pins you are wearing on a lanyard are fair game for trade, and pins that are not fair game for trade are not worn on a lanyard.

On the one hand, obviously it's pointless to be offended if someone else isn't following the same rules you're following (welcome to life), but in defense of sincere traders, you do confuse us if you're wearing a lanyard with pins you won't trade. On the other hand, this is why humans have language -- so we can (*gasp*) TALK to each other when we're not sure.

The way it's *supposed* to work is like this. I see you have a lanyard, and I'd like to take a closer look. So I go up to you, smile brightly, and say, "may I see your pins?" And you smile back and say "sure!" and hold them out for me so I can easily see them without having to invade your personal space. And if you're not trading, this is a perfect time to say, "I'm sorry, but I'm not trading today. I just wanted to wear some of my favorite pins." At which point I can say something like, "oh, okay. Thanks for showing them to me," or, "wow, I've been looking for that one forever because X is my favorite character in the world. Are you sure I couldn't convince you to trade?" And we can have a conversation and be civilized about it. What a concept!!!

If you're not up for that, or more to the point, if you're not up for how it often goes worse than that, your best bet is to choose some other display method for your pins -- a vest, a jacket, a hat, your shirt collar, or whatever. While there are people who trade from hats or vests, the widely-recognized sign of a trader is a lanyard. If you're wearing pins on a lanyard, people are going to assume you're willing to trade.