If I were stopping people in Norwich City Centre & offering to teach them A Feast for Odin I'm sure I'd struggle. But my wife learned Agricola: All Creatures Big & Small in minutes despite having never played a worker placement game before. How? Because she's an adult & was up for it.
Your mileage may vary on this. Remember I'm autistic so if I've snagged any invisible social tripwires by speaking my mind please don't hear what I didn't say.
FWIW I don’t think you’ve snagged any invisible social tripwires. You’ve spoken your mind and what you say makes lots of sense.
The problem I encounter is that although I’m not trying to sell people a game in a transactional sense, I am still trying to sell it to them. I need people who don’t think they’ll enjoy something to be willing to spend their time trying. How do I do that?
You can't make them, you can only make them welcome.