Wait wait wait, the guy was standing there leaning over your shoulder for an entire cable replacement? That's insane. I would have lost my mind after the first 30 seconds, let alone a whole job. Like, how do people not realize they're breathing down your neck and making everything take twice as long? That's not curiosity man, that's just disrespectful. I'd probably just stop and stare back at them until they got uncomfortable and backed off.
Maybe about the wires, but sometimes they're just curious, not thinking you're hiding something. It still slows you down, but it comes from a different place.
God, I know exactly what you mean. Last week I had a guy leaning over my shoulder while I was just trying to replace a simple cable. He asked about every single wire like I was hiding some secret, and it took twice as long. Makes the whole job so much more stressful for no reason.
That "leaning over my shoulder" part is the absolute worst. Like, buddy, I am not performing magic here, it's a cable. Next time I'm gonna bring a lawn chair for my new supervisor so he can really get comfortable. The only secret I'm hiding is how badly I want to finish this without a live audience.