posted on Aug, 20 2005 @ 03:17 PM
The majority of people that I've met in my lifetime all seem to share one very annoying quality: Talking for the sake of filling up space between
conversations, about nothing of the least bit importance or relevance. It seems like we're just socially conditioned to just blabber on, all to avoid
that dreadful 'awkward silence'.
"Oh my God, awkward silence!" people seem compelled to yell out whenever a pause occurs in a conversation, as if I have committed a social atrocity
or something. Gee, thanks, now I have the choice of either succumbing to your mindnumbing 'conversations', or being rude and explaining why it is
that I don't feel the need to talk at this moment. I'm not speaking of simply shooting the breeze, but more like asking questions you already know
the answer to, or starting a conversation that you know will take some time to run its course, just to avoid that terrible awkwardness for a bit
longer.
Personally, my phone conversations last for an average of 1-2 minutes, and I'm usually concise when talking in person (although I
can be a bit
long winded on these forums
). Don't take this to mean that I think it's wrong to talk to a person about a vacation, a deceased loved one, or a
problem they're going through. That's fine, I'm just pointing out that I don't need 3 hours to get a simple point across. I don't believe in any
awkward silence and have no problems whatsoever walking down the street with someone by my side, not uttering a single sentence. Why can't some
people just enjoy the company of others without a spoken word? And why is it that something has to be 'wrong' with me every time I decide to be
silent? This is just something that's been on my mind for awhile now. Maybe some of you have had similar experiences with this or know what I'm
talking about. I'm just tired of always having to explain myself and tell people that its 'OK' to just drive or walk without speaking, or listen to
others babble on about nonsense.
I should also include in my rant how annoying it is that your message gets erased whenever you go back a page too
. I lost my entire rant just now,
and had to type this watered down one after it stole my fire!
[edit on 20-8-2005 by zhangmaster]