Neighborhood Busy Body

There is an older retired man who lives in the same condo building we live in. He spends a good deal of his afternoon walking around just outside waiting to ambush anyone who is coming or going with lengthy discussions about absolutely nothing. Small talk with strangers is incredibly taxing and I need every bit of energy just to keep up with life. To make matters worse he is often smoking. Yikes!

Don't get me wrong, he's a perfectly nice man who is just super social. But I work hard to try and avoid him when taking the dog for a walk and running errands. Avoidance isn't always possible I think the time has come to tell him that I just can't be around the smoke and that I'm dealing with chronic pain so can't have lengthy conversations.

I'm working on the wording. I don't want to be rude but I also want to be clear.

Ever had a neighborhood busy body? How did you deal with it?