Silence Case

When it comes to my tolerance of silence, I feel that it depends on the situation. If I am driving in the car with someone such as my boyfriend, I hate silence and so I tend to talk excessively. I have noticed that I do a large amount of the talking when I am in the car with my boyfriend and I think that the more silence he gives me the more talking I do. We always laugh about it because he says I talk his ear off especially when we are in the car. For some reason, I either need to be singing in the car or talking in the car because I don't like silent car rides in general.

Other than car rides, I feel that my toleration of silence depends on the person that I am talking with or in the situation with. If it is someone that I hardly know then I am probably the person that gives more silence because I usually wait for him or her to initiate the conversation, etc. I don't purposely give these people silence to be rude, but sometimes I just don't know what to say so I find it's easier to be silent and wait for them to continue the conversation or say something else. However, if I feel comfortable with the person such as my friends, family, and boyfriend I feel that I don't give them silence. I think this is just because I am more comfortable talking with them and being around them that I can openly have conversations without feeling like I don't know what to say. I also don't feel like they give me silence either.

I have also noticed that there are times when I really enjoy silence. I think that sometimes it is nice to just be silent. It is similar to being alone, and I feel that I am the type of person that sometimes enjoys being alone. The silences that I really don't mind are the ones that are comfortable silences. I also feel that I don't mind silence when I am concentrating on something such as doing my schoolwork or completing projects at work. I think silence is great when I am trying to get something done because there are no distractions. However, the types of silences that I can't stand are the awkward silences where no one is saying anything and they obviously don't know what to say so everyone is silent.